


NAvataRUTO

by ReebaJee



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Long, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 18:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 28,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7118050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReebaJee/pseuds/ReebaJee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the gaang travels the fire nation seeking a fire bending teacher for Aang, they stumble upon the hidden leaf village as it prepares for the chunin exams. Are ninja friends or foe? And is their will of fire an emblem of hope or a structure for violence? Cultures collide as the struggle between benders and non benders continues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fight in the Fire Nation Forest!

**Author's Note:**

> Here goes nuthin. Please review and tell me what you think.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during fire; book three of Avatar and around episode 20 of Naruto

“Oh man, this is such a drag.” Complained Shikamaru. “No wonder they put genin on patrol duty.”

Asuma sighed. Patrol wasn’t his favorite either but they still had to stay sharp. “Don’t let your guard down.” He reminded his students. “Keep your eyes open for any sign of life.” There came a buzz in his headphone as Ino’s voice came over the intercom.

“There’s something here” She said, “and it looks big!”

“What did you find Ino?” Choji asked.

“Better be on your top guard, because this is a frickin trail of destruction.” She answered.

Shikamaru cautioned his peers. “For the enemy to have not even bothered to cover their trail, they must be either really strong or really stupid.”

 

Appa sneezed.

“Who would have thought there’d be so many trees in the Fire Nation.” Murmured Sokka. 

“Are you sure we’re in the Fire Nation?” Katara asked, “It all seems so… flammable.”

The forest that the gaang was traveling through was dense and Appa had a hard time working his way through the brush. When they finally made it to a clearing, the group was glad to have a rest. Sokka took out his map and Aang and Katara gathered around.

“Ok.” Sokka said, pointing to a patch of green. “We’re somewhere in this forest. If we just head north, eventually we’ll get to the edge of the tree line where there seems to a bunch of towns. One of them has to have some sort of fire bending teacher.”

Aang sighed, “This would be so much easier if we could fly.”

“Yeah well the whole point in entering the Fire Nation through the forest was so that we wouldn’t have to fly over enemy territory.” Sokka explained. “Ten ton bison are really hard to hide, even if you make a make cloud to cover it up.”

Suddenly the gaang heard a snort from behind them. “I would have spotted that too. I pay very close attention to the clouds.”

Toph jumped. How had she not noticed them approach? They must have traveled in the trees. “Human Boulder!” She heard a voice yell as she felt the ground begin to rumble. Why weren’t the others getting out of the way? Just in the knick of time, Toph erected a stonewall to protect them from the rolling human. Shikamaru cursed. He haddn’t caught the last member of the group in his shadow possession jutsu. Choji slammed into the rock wall sending bits of stone everywhere. Out of nowhere, they heard a roar. 

“Ino!” Shikamaru yelled.

Ino turned around to face an enormous furry beast. There was no one there to catch her. The wall had incapacitated Choji, Shikamaru was holding the enemies with his jutsu and Asuma was dealing with the earth girl. Her target was hard to miss. Without any hesitation, Ino transferred her mind into the beast that stood before her and her real body fell to the ground. When Choji had come to, he ran to get Ino’s body to a safe place. Asuma had tied up the enemies and Shikamaru sighed in relief as he released his jutsu. He didn’t realize holding three targets would be so much work. He really had to work on his stamina. At least his shadow hadn’t bailed on him. He hated when it did that. Shikamaru joined his sensei and Choji in front of the prisoners.

The bald one spoke up. “Whatever you’re doing to Appa, just stop it. He’s no danger to anyone!”

The ninjas looked at each other. Appa?

“He means the flying bison.” An older girl explained.

Asuma nodded. “Alright Ino, You can come out now.”

Appa shook his massive head as control of his body was returned to him. Ino moaned as she sat up and rubbed her back. “Ow” she complained.

Ignoring their tied up prisoners, Asuma began to speak, seeing this as a good opportunity for a lesson. “All of your techniques work best together in formation InoShikaCho. Ideally you would be able to be there for each other every time but that is unrealistic. In battle, getting separated from the group is inevitable. You all need to work on your weaknesses as individuals. Ino, you need to practice getting into a standing position that will allow your body to fall and not get hurt.”

“I was caught up in the moment okay?” Ino grumbled.

Asuma continued. “Shikamaru, holding three enemies long enough for me to take out the girl was too much effort for you. If you want to make things easy, then you have to actually put in the work to practice them.”

Shikamaru sighed. “What a drag.”

“Choji,” Asuma concluded, “We can’t always be there as your eyes when you do the human boulder. You need to increase your power in order to compensate for any obstacle that may come in your way.”

Choji groaned. “How am I supposed to be powerful enough to break down a wall?”

“Well,” Asuma smiled, “For one thing, you have to keep up your weight. How about I take you all out to barbeque after we turn these guys in?”

“Oh Boy!” Choji exclaimed.

“You’re not taking us anywhere if I have anything to do with it.” Toph said as she stamped her foot. Stone shackles burst out of the ground and caught Ino and Choji.  
Shikamaru and Asuma had evaded the attack by jumping into the tree branches. 

“Right. How rude of me not to offer.” Asuma chided himself. “I’m in the presence of the Avatar and I don’t even invite him to lunch.”  
Ino and Choji looked at each other in surprise. The Avatar?

The tied up gaang was just as confused. “Hold on,” Sokka said, “Who are you?”

“And how do you know Aang is the Avatar?” Katara added.

“I hope you’re going to untie us before taking us out to lunch.” Toph muttered.


	2. Lazy Rival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asuma takes his team and the gaang to a barbecue lunch

Chapter Two: A Lazy Rival!

 

Sitting at the barbeque grill table, Choji and Sokka grinned as they watched the cuts of meat sizzle. “I love meat!” They cried in unison.

“So you guys are ninja?” Katara asked.

Sokka wasn’t listening. He was too busy stuffing his face with meat. Aang looked repulsed. Ino nodded. “Yup. We sure are. Are you surprised?”

“Well, it’s just…” Katara hesitated. “You’re not what I expected ninja to look like.”

“What did you expect?” Choji asked through a mouth full of barbeque. “Mask wearing, figures in black body suits?”

“Well, yes.” Katara admitted. “I certainly didn’t think you would be kids.”

“They’re older than I am.” Toph pointed out.

Shikamaru put his hands behind his head. “I guess you guys really are stupid. You certainly weren’t powerful.”

Toph scoffed. “Yeah well neither are you.” She countered. “We heard all about your weaknesses from your boss while he was degrading you in front of us.”

Ino smacked her hands on the table and leaned forward. “Hey!” she cried. “Asuma sensei isn’t our boss, he’s our leader. And he wasn’t degrading us, he was teaching us.” Ino looked around. “Asuma sensei?” Now that they realized it, neither Aang nor Asuma were still at the table. Aang must have taken his vegetarian self outside.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. “What a drag.” He muttered. “We may not be perfect, but we were able to capture you. Finding you sure was easy. Who’s idea was it to take a flying bison on a hike through the woods?” He asked. 

“It’s not like we could fly.” Sokka grumbled, his mouth full of food. “You would have spotted us with your ‘superior cloud watching skills’.” As he said this, Sokka made wavey hand motions in the air to indicate that he was mocking Shikamaru’s love of cloud watching. This was intended to piss Shikamaru off, but only really succeeded in making Sokka look ridiculous waving his arms with meat juice dripping down his chin.

Shikamaru yawned. “You act as though flying through the air like a giant target and tromping through the woods were your only options.”

“If you’re so smart,” Katara retorted, “Why don’t you tell us what you would’ve done.”

“I’d send word to the Leaf Village immediately.” Shikamaru replied. “You need to get into the Fire Nation without the Fire Lord knowing. It seems obvious to ask for help from the one entity in the Fire Nation that is not under the rule of the Fire Lord. Don’t you have a messenger bird?”

“We did until someone decided to send a letter to her parents.” Sokka pointedly looked at Toph. Irritated by Shikamaru’s tone of condescension he asked, “And how do you expect us to contact a mysterious ‘hidden’ village that we have no idea where it is without a messenger bird?”

“By having the Hidden Stone village contact us.” Shikamaru said flatly. He was obviously tired of this conversation. “You just came from the Earth Kingdom right? Well, sending word to the Hidden Stone is easy. There are free mailboxes all over Ba Sing Se that ninja mailmen collect and bring to Iwagakure.”

“Humph.” Sokka huffed. “Yeah, well I don’t know if I trust you ninja any way.”

“That’s your problem.” Shikamaru stated. “I just told you what the best plan of action was because you asked what I would do.” He settled back in his seat and looked like he was ready for a nap.

Sokka was pissed. Who did this guy think he was saying that he knew the best plan of action? How dare he just show up and call all of Sokka’s strategies stupid. He didn’t know anything. “You think you’re better than us, don’t you!” Sokka snapped.

Shikamaru said nothing since it was not really a question. His indifference was so annoying.

“Well?” Sokka asked

Shikamaru sighed. “Well what?”

“Do you think you’re better than us cause you’re some flashy ninja?” Sokka growled.

Closing his eyes, Shikamaru sighed again. “Better than you in what sense?”

“See! He does think he’s better than us!” Sokka shouted. “Well we’ll see who’s better. I challenge you to a battle.”

“No thanks.” Shikamaru declined. “It’s too much trouble.”

Sokka smacked his hand on the table. “This is a fight among men! So don’t go backing down like a coward.”

“Mng” Shikamaru grunted. He crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling and tried his best to block out the sounds coming from the very loud water tribe boy across from him.

“What, do you think I’m not worthy to fight you?” Sokka continued, oblivious to the fact that no one was listening. “I bet you think I’m just some water peasant that can’t even bend. But I’m a warrior! I have a boomerang!”

Aang had walked outside. He was worried about Appa. They had had to leave him outside the village walls since walking him through the streets would draw too much attention. Ever since he had lost Appa in the Earth Kingdom, Aang felt more nervous about leaving his friend alone. He turned as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It was Asuma.

“I’m sorry for the way we treated you back there in the woods.” He apologized. “When we saw the trail that your pet bison had made, we assumed the worst.” Asuma saw how the boy’s face fell upon hearing of his beast. “Hey.” Asuma reassured him. “The flying bison will be fine. I set up a genjutsu so that anyone who looks at him will just see more forest.”

“What are you going to do with us here?” Aang asked.

Asuma shrugged. “That’s really not under my control.” He said. “I’ll have to take you to Lord Hokage, but don’t worry about it. He’s a nice guy and a very good leader.”

Aang looked skeptical. “How do you know?” He asked.

Asuma smiled. “He’s my father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever stop to wonder where the food produce in the village comes from? Imagine being a farmer who sells meat to ninja.


	3. Uneasy reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh enters the story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea behind this chapter was actually what started off this whole fanfiction. I was looking at SractheNinja's comic Irohstuki comic on deviant art and I wasn't satisfied with the ending. I wanted to know more! So my mind got to spinning, and hasn't stopped yet. So huge thanks to SractheNinja for inspiring me to start the longest story that I have ever written.

“Uncle!” Zuko whined. “I’ve had enough of your stupid games. We’re almost to Wind Country and we need to start looking for the Avatar!”

Iroh sighed. “Zuko, that’s what we have been doing for the past three years. Don’t underestimate the power of an old man’s gossip. A lot of information can be gathered by playing pai sho.”

Zuko huffed. “Fine, go play with your old friends. I’ll be scoping out new information in the library.”

Finally Iroh was able to get some time away from his nephew. He made his way to the meeting place described in the message. He set up his board and began to meditate. Within half an hour, his eyebrows had lengthened and his nose had bulged as he entered dragon sage mode. Once he had collected enough natural energy, he was able to perform the senjutsu and notify him that he was ready. A staticy figure appeared before him.

“It’s been a while, Iroh” Pain said.

Iroh glared at the figure. “Not long enough.” He said, gesturing at the board. “The guest has the first move.”

Pain pointed to where he wanted his piece to go and Iroh moved it for him. “You still insist on playing pai sho everytime we meet, do you?” Pain commented.

Iroh shrugged. “If I must assist in disrupting the harmony in the world by working for you, at least grant an old man the pleasure of creating harmony on the board game.”

“Harmony is a myth, Iroh,” Pain said. “Disruption of peace is the way of the ninja. There will never be harmony so long as shinobi exist in this world.”

Iroh shook his head. “A person like you, who has no hope, no faith in humanity, has no inner strength.” He said.

Pain took one of Iroh’s pieces. “You’ve gotten soft, old man. Just like my old teacher Jiraya. You will never understand the ways of the Akatsuki.”

Iroh looked up from the bord, clenching his white lotus piece in his fist. “Then why do you insist on preventing me from leaving? You allowed that Orochimaru to go even though he hadn’t fulfilled his offer to me. I want nothing to do with you and your organization.”

“You stupid old man.” Pain said. “I allowed Orochimaru to leave because his goals did not interfere with our own. You joined the Akatsuki of your own free will and you declined our offer that we were fully prepared to fulfill.”

Iroh closed his eyes. Back then he was a different man. Crushed by the death of his son Lu Ten in the siege of Ba Sing Se, he would’ve done anything to bring him back. Weeping in front of his son’s grave, Iroh had heard a sound behind him. He whirled around spitting sparks. There stood a pale man with strangely snake like features wearing a black robe embroidered with red clouds.

“So it really is you,” The man mused, “The great dragon of the west.”

Iroh glared at the man. “Who are you and what do you want?” he demanded.

The man chuckled. “My name is Orochimaru and I am here on behalf of my organization to ask you to join the Akatsuki.”

Iroh sent a warning flash that set the ground below Orochimaru’s feet to smoldering. “Touchy are we?” The snake man hissed.

“I have no interest in your club. How dare you approach a man in mourning with such a request!” Iroh yelled.

Orochimaru’s evil smile never faltered. “I dare to approach you, your highness, because we need a bender among our ranks of S class ninja. The diversity would appeal to a larger range of clients. I guarantee you that if you join, you will mourn no longer.”

“HAH!” Iroh yelled as he threw a bolt of lightning at Orochimaru. The man crumpled only to crawl out of his own mouth like a snake shedding its skin. 

“I can give you anything your heart desires.” Orochimaru susurrated.

Iroh looked away. “No one can bring back the dead.” He said.

“Oh but I can.” Orochimaru loved seeing the look of shock on the general’s face. “I can bring your dear Lu Ten back to life.”

Iroh had agreed. If only he’d known that it would mean sacrificing Zuko. But by then it was too late and he had already joined the Akatsuki.

“Your loyalty to your nephew is the only thing that keeps you a danger to us.” Pain said, bringing Iroh back to the present. “I could remove the boy and then your interests would not conflict with ours. You can be free of us whenever you wish Iroh.”

“Leave Zuko out of this!” Iroh barked.

Pain reminded Iroh that it was his turn to move. Iroh did so and Pain declared ‘Pai Sho’. He had won. “Your problem Iroh,” Pain said, “Is that you move with your heart and not with your head. You let your emotions cloud your judgment. The road to harmony is a strategic one.”

“What do you want me to do?” Iroh asked.

Pain nodded. Finally they had gotten down to business. “The Avatar is hiding out in the Leaf Village. Hitch a ride with the ninja from the Hidden Sand who are going there for the chunin exams. Your brother the Fire Lord has put the idea in their head that the leaf is a danger to them and must be eliminated. They will strike during the exams. Orochimaru plans to use the battle as an opportunity to kill the Hokage. During the chaos, I want you and Itachi Uchiha to abduct Naruto Uzumaki and talk to Avatar Aang.”


	4. New Alliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gaang meets the Third Hokage

Chapter Four: a New Alliance

The hokoge looked up from his papers. "Why are you and your team back early from your scouting mission, Asuma?" Sarutobi asked. "You're not teaching these genin to play hooky are you?"

"No, Lord Hokage." Asuma bowed his head respectfully. "We found something on patrol that you should know about. With your permission, I will bring them in."

The third Hokage motioned his ascent and the Avatar and his group was ushered into the office. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded at his son. "Thank you for brining this to my attention." He murmured. "Please take your team back on patrol to finish your term and keep this finding absolutely confidential." Asuma bowed and left along with his students.

The hokage once again turned his attention to Aang. "You must be the Avatar." He stated. "Please, Tell me all your names." The gaang nervously introduced themselves. "Why are you here, Aang?" Sarutobi asked. "I hope you know that you are wanted by the fire lord."

"We do, sir, we-" Aang started.

Katara interjected, "Aang needs to find a fire bending teacher."

Sarutobi rubbed his chin. "Tell me, do you know why the fire lord wants to capture you Aang?"

The Avatar looked at his friends. What should he say? Was this a trick question? This old man may be Asuma's father, but he still was the leader of the Fire Nation's hidden village. "Fire Lord Ozai plans to invade all five great nations and control them. I am the only one who can stop him. That is why he wants me gone." Aang answered.

Sarutobi sighed. "It is as I feared. You are wrong about one thing, however. You cannot stop him." Sokka gulped. Were they going to be apprehended then and there? Did this old man plan to stop them on their quest to stop the fire lord? "One young boy," the hokage continued, "no matter how spiritually powerful can defeat a whole nation. I hope you will be wise enough to accept our help in stopping the Fire Nation's conquest." The third Hokage said respectfully.

The gaang was stunned. "But, why would you want to help us?" Toph stammered. "You're in the Fire Nation."

"The hidden villages are separate entities from the countries that they reside in." Sarutobi explained. "We are here to keep an eye on the feudal lords, make sure they stay within their bounds, and protect and support the non-bending members of society. That is why we are on your side, Avatar. Will you allow us to collaborate?"

Aang mumbled, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Do you have a plan?" The hokage asked. The children before him shuffled their feet.

"Um… not really." Aang said sheepishly. "We just figured once I mastered all the elements I would be powerfull enough to…er, stop him."

"Yes, well, I wish it were that simple." Sarutobi sighed. "Please stay in the village Avatar while we search for a teacher for you. The location of this place is secret and many patrol teams heavily guard the village as you have witnessed. This is the safest place in the Fire Nation for you to be."

The gaang looked doubtful. As soon as someone starts trying to convince you that you are safe is exactly when you are in trouble.

Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the looks of worry on their faces. "It is true that the fire lord has decreed that none in this land may interfere with his effort to capture the Avatar, however he never said that we must not interfere with his search to locate the you. So long as your presence here remains a secret, we will protect and home you. However, we cannot disobey the fire lord. If he finds you here, and comes to get you, we will not be able to intervene. Therefore, it is imperative that we keep your identity a secret."

The gaang decided to trust the old man and after some discussion, settled upon some new names for themselves. Sokka would go by Sakumo and Katara would be known as Takara. Toph decided on Toshi, and Aang said he had a friend named Taro a hundred years ago and would like to take his name. Hiruzen smiled his approval; pipe in hand.

"From today on you will be undercover as leaf genin." He announced. "Wear these headbands."

He gave aang one attatched to a bandana in order to cover his arrow.

"You will need bodyguards. I would like to assign team 10, as they already know who you are, but I already sent them back to finish their patrol. Izumo here will escort you to your apartment. Tomorrow morning, team 7 will arrive as your guides and guards."


	5. of Ninjas and Benders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura gives a history lesson

Chapter Five: Of Ninjas and Benders

The next day, team seven arrived to show the Avatar and his friends around Konoha. "So… what are we supposed to show them?" Naruto asked. "The best place to get ramen?"

"How about the library or the communications tower?" Sakura offered.

"Absolutely not." Sasuke chided. "These people are outsiders. We're not just going to show them our intelligence center. In a hidden village only clients and other ninjas are supposed to know where it is. I don't see why we should trust them," Sasuke said bluntly.

Toph stepped in saying, "We never asked you to trust us and just so you know, I don't give a bear's egg where you get your mail."

Sakura nervously stepped between the two. "Hey guys, just calm down. We were instructed by the hokage to make these people feel welcome. I trust in lord third's decision. Besides, If Aang truly is the Avatar, then there is nothing to worry about." She reasoned.

Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Ava-what?"

Sasuke turned his attention to Aang. "You," he said, "prove that you are the Avatar. Show us that you can use all the elements."

Now Katara was getting mad. "Don't order him around!" she demanded. "Aang is the Avatar and he doesn't need to prove it to the likes of you." Suddenly the group felt a slight breeze as Aang prepared an air scooter and rode around them. He explained that he had not mastered all the elements yet, but him being an air bender should be proof enough.

Naruto let out a noise of frustration; "argh! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on? I thought these guys weren't ninja, so how can the bald guy fly? And what does that have to do with if he's trustworthy enough to see our mail and what the heck is an Avatar?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to be frustrated. "Did you sleep through all of our history classes? Uhg, you are such an idiot Naruto!" She exclaimed. "The Avatar is the one being who has the ability to learn to bend all the elements. It is supposed to be a great bridge from this world to the spirit world and keeps balance between all the nations."

"Isn't that what the ninja villages are for?" asked Naruto.

"Yes. For the past hundred years the Avatar has been missing and the hidden villages were formed to keep a balance of power between each nation's feudal lords and the people." Sakura answered.

"Ahhh! I still don't get it," Naruto moaned. "What does that have to do with riding on air?"

Sakura sighed. "You really don't know anything, Naruto? I guess that I will just have to start from the beginning." Unbeknownst to any of the characters, a giant scroll showing simplified diagrams appeard behind Sakura to act as a visual aid to her speech. "There are two main kinds of people in this world: benders and nonbenders. A bender is born with the ability to control an element such as water, earth, air, fire, or lightning. Their physical movements are what cause the element to do their will. Therefor, benders are not able to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, but rather, only taijutsu."

"Bushy brows!" Naruto exclaimed. "He must be a bender!"

"Lee is not a bender. We know this because he has chakra and benders do not. Now shut up and let me finish." Sakura continued. "The Avatar is a being who, like I said before, has the potential to master all the elements. The Avatar is meant to keep balance and peace between nations because benders of each element have formed into separate countries. This being is immortal and is eternally reborn after death. Each new Avatar is born to one element but must learn all the rest. This does not happen randomly however. There is a cycle of elements that each Avatar will be born into. A hundred years ago, the Avatar was to be born an air bender. However, our Land of Fire felt threatened by the Wind Country and feared that they would use the Avatar's great power against them. So, the Fire Nation killed off all the air benders. We know that Aang is the Avatar because he is the last air bender. In the hundred years since the massac-air, there has been great unrest without the Avatar. There were constant wars between clans and countries until the clans finally were able to become allies and form villages. The hidden leaf was the first village of this kind, started as a weak truce between the Senju and the Uchiha. The Fire Nation has grown strong in the century without the Avatar. There are rumors that the fire lord plans on dominating all the five great nations. Having an Avatar in the picture would make that goal much harder and that is why the fire lord may seek to have Aang captured or destroyed." Sakura concluded. "Did I leave anything out?"

The gaang looked at each other and agreed that nope, she pretty much covered it all and more so.

Naruto put his hands in his pockets and squinted. He nodded vigorously so as to pretend that he understood. Then he put his hands behind his head and asked if the history lesson was over so that he could go train. Sakura punched him in the arm and Sasuke said how Naruto was such a loser, he didn't expect he would even have any jutsu to practice.

"Oh yea? I'll show you!" Naruto shouted as he put his hands together in his telltale sign. "Harem Jutsu!" In a puff of smoke, there were instantly ten nude female Natutos. Sokka screamed and fell on his butt, Katara covered Aang's eyes after she got over the initial shock, Sasuke rolled his eyes, Sakura clobbered Naruto in the head and Toph just picked her nose. Once Naruto was back in his original form, albeit with a new large welt on his head, he asked how on earth Toph was able to remain completely neutral throughout his jutsu.

"I'm blind!" Toph said with an exasperated sigh. "But not as blind as you are for not noticing. I guess I should take it as a compliment really. I can preform just as well as anyone who can see because I can feel vibrations in the ground. For example, my feet 'see' four people up ahead." Sure enough, further down the path stood some figures that no one recognized. There was a boy with purple face paint carrying what looked to be a mummy, a girl with four blond ponytails and a short red haired boy with a giant gourd on his back. As the group approached the three strangers, Sakura noticed that the symbols on their forehead protectors showed that they were shinobi from the village hidden in the sand.

"Why are there people from Wind Country here in the Fire Nation?" Aang asked.

The outsiders from the sand turned to see who was talking. The boy with the face paint smirked. "These must be the leaf genin. What a bunch of wimps."

"What did you call us?" Naruto yelled, running towards the trio. With the twitch of a finger, Kankuro tripped him with one of his chakra strings. Sakura demanded the strangers state their purpose for being in the Leaf Village. The blond girl rolled her eyes and said that besides being wimps, these genin were obviously ignorant too. Temari explained that they were there for the upcoming chunin exams. The red haired boy gave some sort of silent signal and the three of them disappeared.

Aang ran over to the spot the sand shinobi had been just seconds ago. "Why would citizens of my Land of Wind come to enemy territory just for an exam?" He asked.

"They're not citizens of Wind Country exactly," Sasuke answered, "They're shinobi from the Sand Village which is located in the Land of Wind. The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind may be at war currently, but the sand and Leaf Villages are still allies. It has been a tradition for years that allied ninja villages conduct shared chunin exams in order to maintain the balance of power and keep up good relations."

Sokka stroked his chin and asked what these exams entailed. When learning that it was a competition between genin for the title of chunin, he smacked his fist against his palm. "I'm in! I just got to fight Shikamaru. I'll show that no good stuck up lazy jerk a thing or two."

Naruto scratched his head. "You want to join the chunin exams?"

Aang smiled. "This would be a great opportunity to get to know people of all different backgrounds. As the Avatar, improving relations is part of my job."

"I'm always up for butt kicking," Toph said as she cracked her knuckles.

Katara looked nervous. "I don't know, you guys, I think that would be a bad idea." She said.

Toph laughed. "What, is miss fussy britches scared of getting in a tussle?" She mocked.

"No!" Katara said indignantly, "I just think we should try to keep a low profile."

"What she really means," Toph replied, "Is that sugar queen hates having fun."

Sakura eased in between the two furious girls' stare down. "Hey, calm down," she said, "there's no point in arguing about it when we haven't even talked to the hokage. Not even every genin gets to join the exam. I'll file your request and have it sent to lord third." The group continued down the path as a blue mask-wearing figure stepped out from behind a tree where he had heard everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They have no idea what they are getting into


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko meets the sand team and Iroh has memories

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat smoking his pipe at a desk. "So the Avatar and his friends wish to join the chunin exams." He said. "I cannot fulfill their request. Non-ninja, not to mention benders have never been allowed to enter the exams. The Avatar is here under our protection. There is no reason to put them in unnecessary danger or attention."

"May I interject, lord hokage," said a man with grey hair wearing an anbu mask, "I think that it would be unwise to dismiss their request so quickly. We are dealing with the Avatar after all." The reflection of his glasses glinted through the eyeholes of his mask. In the corner stood another cloaked figure wearing a blue mask.

Sarutobi took off his ceremonial hokage hat and looked at the man who had spoken. "If you see any reason why we should allow four non ninja to participate in the chunin exam, please, enlighten me."

"If I may be so bold, sir," Kabuto said behind his mask, "The Avatar may have his own reasons that he cannot safely make us aware of. The boy may be young, but he is no younger that any of our rookie genin, all of whom will be participating in the exam. I might argue that withholding them from participating would bring them more attention than not since they would be the only leaf rookies left out."

Sarutobi stroked his grey pointed beard. "You make a good point." He said. "Maybe I am underestimating the Avatar and his friends. I will allow it this once."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baki was organizing his ninja tools when he heard someone approach. There came a loud knocking at the door. He knew who it was immediately. No shinobi would be so conspicuous and demanding. It must be a certain arrogant prince. Baki opened the door to Zuko who entered without asking.

"Captain Baki, there is something I must ask of you" Zuko said. "I have heard that the Avatar plans to partake in the chunin exams. Let me join your team so that I may capture him."

The jonin's face was grave. "No. I cannot allow you to do that. We have already risked too much by smuggling you into The Leaf. We have our own goals to accomplish"

Zuko went livid. "Are you implying that I would only be a hindrance to the team?" he growled.

"I said nothing of the sort." Baki replied coolly. "There is only so much we are willing to do for another country's banished prince. You hold no authority over us."

Zuko twitched and his clenched fists began to steam. With great effort he managed to uncurl his fingers and breathe deeply. Uncle was probably right that this kind of negotiation could not be handled by throwing fireballs. 'Remember your leverage' he reminded himself.

Opening his eyes, Zuko tried to smirk but it turned into more of a grimace. "You're right." He said, gritting his teeth. "I don't have any authority. So don't think of this as an order, but as a request, from a friend."

Baki raised his eyebrows, amused at the teen's lack of eloquence. Zuko, smelling that he was being disrespected, growled, "Not a friend of yours, of the Sand Village. I may remind you captain, that your village is in imminent danger of attack from the Leaf Village. The hidden villages and the feudal lords may be separate entities, but the Leaf Village is still on Fire Nation soil. If you want us to buy you enough time for you to eliminate the danger that is in our land, I suggest you do as I say." Baki narrowed his eyes at the literally fuming prince. Zuko then realized his voice had slipped back into his ordering tone. Zuko coughed. "Please?" he muttered.

Baki tilted his head slightly. "Hmm? What was that you said?"

"I said…please." Zuko managed, barely keeping an even tone.

"Allow me to discuss it with my team." Baki replied without a trace of a smile. He then promptly turned and leaft leaving Zuko to wonder at the unexpected effectiveness of that one last word. Not one to dwell long on past conversations, his mind wandered to the team he hoped to join. Zuko had traveled with these ninja for only a day before they reached the Leaf Village and since the sand siblings had gone ahead, he had not yet seen them besides for a glimpse when he was spying on the avatar. Zuko felt an odd sense of anticipation as he waited to see the three most deadly assassins of the Wind Country.

"Did it hurt?" said a low voice that did not seem to fit its owner.

"Did what hurt?" asked Zuko as he eyed the speaker who stepped out of the shadows. He was pale with hair as red as the Fire Nation flag. I swear, Zuko thought, if he says when you fell from heaven…

"When you burned your face" Gaara answered.

His words felt like a slap to Zuko. Angrily Zuko replied that it did hurt and that he did not do it himself but rather had the pleasure of having his father do it for him.

Gaara nodded knowingly; "my own father tried to have me killed by strapping explosives to my uncle. I imagine that I would have sustained much worse burns than that had the sand not protected me. Where was your mother when your father burned your face?"

Zuko did not like where this conversation was going. He narrowed his good eye until it was even with his burnt one. Thinking about his mother always made Zuko angry. The other two sand siblings glanced at each other and edged into the best places to be if they needed to suddenly intervene.

"How dare you." Zuko growled. "How dare you tiny dirt peasant compare yourself to me. I am the son and heir to fire lord Ozai."

Kankuro snorted. "Yeah, and we are the children of the fourth kazekage."

"Enough!" shouted Baki. "You all will cooperate with each other during the chunin exams. Understood?"

"Understood."

Iroh heard the door slam. "Nephew!" he said, "So good to see you. How goes your search for the Avatar?"

"Well, uncle." Zuko replied as he hung his cloak on the door. "I just made preparations with captain Baki so that I may participate in their stupid exam."

Iroh coughed and spurted out the hot tea he was drinking. This brought on a spell of hacking. Zuko ran to pat him on the back. Once he had finally caught his breath, he asked, "Why would you do such a thing nephew? You're not considering becoming a ninja, are you?"

Zuko stood and paced the room. "Of course not, uncle. I overheard the Avatar say that he is going to join the exam." Iroh thought for a bit. His nephew had actually spotted the Avatar without immediately rushing in to attack. Maybe Zuko was growing up a little. Still, Iroh didn't quite see his reason for entering the exam. Zuko spoke as if he had read his uncle's thoughts. "Participants will have little outside interactions once the exam begins. Joining the test will give me access to the Avatar that I would not otherwise have. Besides, in these tests, fighting is expected. This pitiful village is full of skilled fighters who would intervene if I attempted to capture him in the middle of the street but there will be no interruptions in the exam. Besides, this test is for their lowest ranking ninja so they'd hardly pose a threat me."

Iroh furrowed his brow. "That is very good reasoning, prince Zuko, but I'm afraid you don't have all the information you might need to make your decision."

Zuko rolled his eyes and sat at the low table across from the retired general. "What more could I need to know uncle?"

Iroh stroked his beard. "Let me tell you about these exams, Nephew. Shinobi are very deadly, and are trained from a very young age. You should never underestimate a ninja no matter his or her rank. This test challenges all skills of survival. It will be very dangerous. Not even the Avatar could make it through this test without injury. I suggest you wait until the Avatar has finished the exam and then move in for your attack. When he is weakest."

"I'm sick of waiting uncle!" Zuko yelled at the old man.

Iroh sighed, shaking his head. "Please prince Zuko, be patient and don't put yourself in unnecessary danger. This exam will be a war." Closing his eyes, Iroh thought of the purple eyed, orange haired man, face skewered with peircings.

"You underestimate me uncle." Zuko spat. "I can take care of myself. I have entered the test and there's no going back." He stood and walked out, leaving Iroh alone with his spilt tea. Your loyalty to your nephew is the only thing that keeps you a danger to us. I could remove the boy and then your interests would not conflict with ours. You can be free of us whenever you wish Iroh. The memory of Pain's words rung in the old man's head. 'It's only a matter of time until the Akatsuki no longer values my cooperation more than eliminating the risk that Zuko poses to their own quest to capture the Avatar.' He thought. Holding his head in his hands, Iroh wondered what he should do. If only he could have known how that snake Orochimaru would trick him.

"Do we have a deal?" He had asked as a smirk played on his pale lips.

"Yes." Iroh whispered.

"Good. By saying so you have sworn alegence to the Akatsuki. You are now under our command as a member of this organizaton."

"Fine. Just give me my son back." Iroh growled.

"All in due time general." Orochimaru had said. "First you must procure me some…Ingredients. The jutsu I must perform is forbidden because it requires sacrificing the life of another."

Iroh's mouth went dry. Could he justify killing an innocent person to bring his son back to life? Well, Orochimaru never said they had to be innocent…

"Bring me the prince." Orochimaru ordered. "He was recently banished, was he not? Surely no one would miss him."

"What! How could you sugest such a thing!" Iroh yelled in outrage. "Zuko is my nephew!"

"Tsk, Tsk Iroh. How self centered you are." Orochimaru chuckled as he slithered around the old general. "The boy's relation to you gives his life no more value than any other. Bring him to me."

Iroh stared into the cold eyes of the snake-man before him. "No."

"You refuse? We thought you might say that." Orochimaru stated. "In that case, I shall give you your first mission as Akatsuki member."

"Now see here. I'm not following any of your orders until you bring my son back to life by sacrificing some criminal already sentenced to death!"

"Mnn hnn hn" Orochimaru's effeminate laugh sent shivers down the old general's spine. "No. That wouldn't serve our purposes general. I'm afraid it is either Zuko or nothing."

"Then to hell with your organization! I want no part of it." Iroh made a dismissive flick of his wrist and turned to go.

"I'm afraid you have no choice." Orochimaru replied coolly. "Now that we know what Zuko means to you, we can use him as leverage. You will do as we say or your nephew will join Lu Ten in the afterlife."

Iroh's fists shook with fury. Orochimaru took this as a sign of defeat and continued. "Your mission is to prevent Zuko from finding the Avatar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens as layers of deceit are revealed. That chapter ended in a flash-back, hopefully I made that clear.


	7. Sokka Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Toph meet Lee

Chapter Seven: Sokka Shenanigans

In the days leading up to the first exam, Katara changed her tactics of dissuasion to speaking to her teammates one on one. "Why do you even want to fight him?" She asked her brother.

"Who?"

"That Shadow boy. Shikamaru was it?" She said.

"Oh him." Sokka pouted. "Well, you can see for yourself, he's a total jerk."

"Actually I didn't get that vibe at all." Katara said honestly. "You where the one being a jerk to him."

Sokka threw his hands up in exasperation. "He outright disrespects us, and thinks we're below him."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "He never said that Sokka. You were the one who said all that stuff."

"Yea, well he didn't deny it." Sokka pointed out. "He was just sitting there, sighing like a freakin damsel in distress. He looks like such an idiot with that stupid ponytail sticking straight out of his head."

Katara smiled cheekily, "They're all ponytails to me. His looks idiotic and yours is fun and perky."

"It's not a ponytail!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's a warrior's wolf tail. His looks like a skunkmonkey tail. Raised up on top of his head like that I wouldn't be surprised if he had a butthole back there. I wouldn't stand behind him if I were you, Katara."

She stared at him blankly. "Seriously? You're reverting to potty joke insults?"

"I'm not joking! For all I know these ninja could have buttholes in the backs of their heads! It could be some sort of Jutsu." Sokka said gesticulating wildly.

"And that's why you're so determined to fight him in the chunin exam?" Katara asked. "Because you think he's a deformed skunk monkey?"

"No! I want to whoop his ass for thinking that he's better than me."

Katara sighed. "Does he actually think that, or do you? I think you need to get over your insecurities and stop comparing yourself to others, Sokka."

"Hey, who are you calling insecure?" Sokka shouted.

"You!" Katara yelled and stomped off.

That left Sokka alone in the middle of the oldest of the ninja villages. He thought maybe there might be some interesting landmarks he should visit but then he remembered that as a 'hidden' village, konoha wasn't exactly a tourist attraction. Sokka wandered to the shop district and tried on some ninja clothes. The mesh undergarments that shinobi wore was actually really comfortable and Sokka thought he looked pretty hot in them too. He was really starting to have fun, mixing and matching outfits before he was chased out of the shop when the owner realized that he had no money. Sighing, Sokka looked at Momo and shrugged. They made their way to a park where they saw a funny looking boy in a green jumpsuit kicking a tree.

"Nine hundred eighty five!" Yelled the boy who had enormous eyebrows. "If I cannot do one thousand kicks then I will do two thousand push ups!"

Sokka stood staring at the kid as he continued to kick the tree. "Nine hundred eighty eight! Nine hundred eighty nine!" This was some dedication. Sokka started off in another direction. He jumped when he heard a loud shout coming from the direction he had come from.

"One thousand!" The boy had apparently achieved his goal. Bushy brows turned his attention to Sokka. "Hello there, I don't believe we have met. My name is Rock Lee!" He said enthusiastically as he held gave thumbs up and flashed a bright smile.

"I'm Sokka," Sokka replied, returning the gesture. 'Dang, I forgot to use my fake name.' Sokka thought. "What are you doing out here?" He asked.

"I am training for the up coming chunin exams!" Lee replied.

"Shouldn't you be doing…Chakra stuff then?" Sokka asked.

Lee's face fell for less than a second but then brightened as he replied, "I may not be able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, but I will show the world that I too can become a splendid shinobi by only using taijutsu!"

Something clicked inside Sokka's head. "Oh, you must be that Bushy brows guy that Naruto Uzumaki was talking about." He realized. "I know how you feel man. I'm also the only one on my team who can't be- um, use chakra."

"You are?!" The boy squealed as his eyes grew wide. "I thought that I was the only one! This is wonderful! We need to train together!"

Ten minutes later, Sokka stood in the clearing wearing his very own green jumpsuit.

"Is this really necessary?" he asked, slumped over in defeat.

"Absolutely!" Cried Lee. "These are special bodysuits guaranteed by Gai sensei to fit perfectly. They are breathable and durable are the peak of comfort. Once you wear it you will never want to take it off!"

"It is comfortable," Sokka admitted, "I just can't help but feel that I look a little ridiculous."

"I think you both look great!" Toph said as she stepped into the clearing.

"Thank you!" Lee said. "I appreciate that!"

"Yeah, well you souldn't," Sokka said, "Toph's blind."

"It's Toshi!" Toph hissed at Sokka.

Lee rose his fist triumphantly "No matter if the compliment is true, it is the thought that counts. Thank you for cheering! Toph, you arrived at the perfect time. Since I only have one pair of leg weights, Sokka will have to carry you while we go on our run if that is all right with you."

"I'm fine with that." Toph smiled.

"I'm not." Sokka protested. "Can't I just run without added weight?"

"Come on Sokka, we have the power of youth on our side!" Lee chided, "I will carry Toph and you can wear my leg weights!" Pulling off his orange leggings, Lee unstrapped the weights from his legs and slapped them on Sokka. Turning around, Lee picked up Toph and zoomed off. "You're so light!" Lee exclaimed.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Toph screamed as she clung to Lee's shoulders for dear life. "I don't even know your name you maniac!"

"Oh right," Lee apologized, "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rock Lee, the handsome devil of the leaf!"

Toph could barely hear him over the roar of the wind. "Your name is Rocky, the hand man pebble in a tree?" She asked.

Lee skidded to a halt and said, "I think we should go check in with your friend Sokka, It seems he may be having trouble." Before Toph could think to tell him to put her the hell down, he sprinted off back in the direction they had come. There they found Sokka, in the exact same spot that they had left him, unable to move with Lee's weights strapped to his legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friends thought Sokka was flirting with Lee when they read this chapter but I was going for a more Toph/Rock pairing. What do you think?


	8. The Chunin Exams Begin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's up with Kakashi and benders?

Chapter eight: The chunin exams begin!

The day of the chunin exam arrived. Genin from the all over (as well as some genin imposters) handed in their identification slips. The waiting room was packed with tough looking ninja and Katara was reminded of why she thought that entering in this exam would be a bad idea. Over by the wall, Kabuto was showing Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura his information cards on the sand siblings. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Avatar and his group waiting across the room. 'Good,' he thought, 'they will make strong opponents for Sasuke.'

In a puff of smoke, Ibiki Moreno and his group of assistant examiners appeared in the room. The first test would be a written exam. Katara sighed in relief. There was no way that any of them would pass this test without having had any ninja education. They would be eliminated and not have to get involved with fighting.

Zuko cursed. "You better have a plan for this." He muttered to Temari.

"Cool it, prince hothead," she replied; "Kankuro will get a cheat sheet with his puppet the crow."

Toph sat down at her seat. This would make for one boring hour. It was a shame that they wouldn't be able to get to the fun part just because she was illiterate. She sighed and settled in to take a nap.

Finally there came time for the tenth and final question. Ibiki warned the genin first however, that if one failed this question they would remain a genin for life, but if they dropped out, so too would their whole team. Sokka silently wondered if he would be made to stay a genin for life even though he was never a genin to begin with. When the last of the bailers left the room, a slow smile cracked across the interrogator's scarred face. "Congratulation," he said. "You all pass!"

"What?" a cry rose up from the crowd. It was a trick question, and Sokka, Toph, Katara and Aang had all unintentionally answered correctly.

o0o0o0o0o

They were then all brought to the next stage of the chunin exams. There, Anko greeted the crowd. "Welcome to the forty fourth training grounds, also known as the forest of death!" She then debriefed those taking the exam on what it would entail and handed out the wavers.

Katara took one hesitantly and called her friends around her. "Are we still going to go through with this?" She asked. "This place gives me the freaks more than that forest that told Aang to look for Toph."

"Gee thanks." Toph muttered.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Not creepy because it told Aang to, oh never mind. The point is that people regularly die in here so why are we willingly going in?"

Aang shrugged. "Same reason that all of them are I guess."

"To become chinin?!" Katara looked like she wanted to pull out her hair loopies.

"No sis, to become strong. We're going to have to face fire lord Ozai at some point and having Aang master all the elements may not be enough." Sokka reasoned. "The hokage was right when he said that Aang can't do this alone.

o0o0o0o0o

Over by a bush, Sasuke was reading his waiver and analyzing the other teams. Someone came up behind him.

"Go get Naruto and Sakura." The man said.

"Kakashi," Sasuke sounded surprised, "what are you doing here? None of the other teams have their teachers sending them off."

Kakashi sighed. "Go get Naruto and Sakura and I'll explain." Thirty seconds later, team 7 was assembled.

"What's this about Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked.

"You're not going to like this, so don't talk until I'm done." Kakashi answered. "As you know, the Avatar and his friends will be partaking in the chunin exams. It is imperative however, that Aang remain safe. You have been assigned a mission to guard the Avatar during this part of the exam."

"What!?" Cried Naruto.

"I said don't talk until I'm done!" Kakashi snapped. "I did my best to get this mission transferred to another team. Since this mission is top secret, the extra burden will not be taken into account when you are judged. I'm sorry to make this test harder for you, but there was nothing I could do."

"Why are we allowing them to participate in the first place?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Long answer short, because he's the Avatar." A bit of silence hung between the group but it was short lived. Naruto inevitably broke it.

"I don't care if we have to guard a million Avatars, I'm gonna become chunin no matter what. Believe it!"

Kakashi got up from his crouching position, giving his team one last word of warning before heading over to the gaang. "I don't know what the avatar is up to, taking this exam, but I don't trust it." He said. "I want you to be wary of them, got it? This is no ordinary escort mission. Find out what they're after."

o0o0o0o0o

Team Avatar saw the masked figure approach them.

"Gahhh! It's Zuko!" Sokka screamed. "Run for your lives!"

"Since when has Zuko had grey hair?" Aang asked.

"Or been that tall?" Katara added. "Or worn a face mask?"

"Or taken 31 inch strides?" Toph asked. "He usually puts his feet nineteen inches ahead of the other." They all stared at Toph. "What?" She asked.

The masked ninja came up to the group. "Hello Taro, Takara, Sakumo, Toshi." He greeted them in turn. "Here are your official fake IDs for taking the exam. You have already received your new names from the hokage but these contain the rest of your identities." He handed out a slip of paper to each of them. "I suggest you memorize them and then eat them."

"Good one." Laughed Sokka. "The mask totally takes you off guard for any humor, mister…"

"Hatake. Kakashi Hatake. But Kakashi is just fine. And I'm not joking. You will be entering the arena at gate 16. As soon as you do, head right. Team seven will be waiting for you at gate fifteen. They have been assigned to be your guards during this test. Their goal is to keep you alive. No more. If you wish to pass this exam, you will have to make that happen on your own." Kakashi stood up to leave. "Well, It looks like they are handing out scrolls now. You four better memorize your new identities and sign those waivers."

Sokka stood as well. "Wait a second. Do you eat a whole sheet of paper whenever you are given secret information? Wouldn't that make you constipated?"

Kakashi turned to look at him. "No, Sokka. When ninja relay information, it is never written down. We gave you the paper since we thought it might be easier for you benders to memorize seeing as you have already forgotten to use fake names multiple times in the past few days." Kakashi then stalked off.

"I get the feeling that guy's not really into benders." Sokka observed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason before I checked for spelling, Temari told Zuko that Kankuro would get a cheat sheep and that totally cracked me up. I kind of wanted to leave it in there because I thought it was funny but I also didn't want it to look amateur. Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!


	9. Danger in the Forest of Death!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to think joining the exam was a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dis sh** gets real.  
> I used some direct quotes from episode 28 of Naruto. I have no claim to the password.

Chapter Nine: The Forest of Death!

The time came to enter the forest of death. As instructed, the gaang immediately turned right. Not five minutes in, they were reached by team seven.

"Why are you still so close to your gate?" Sasuke interrogated. "Were you just walking along in plain sight waiting to be killed? Pick up the pace, we need to find cover."

"Who made you the leader?" Naruto complained.

Deeper in the woods, Sasuke stopped the group. "Taro. Tell me what kind of scroll you have." He demanded.

Aang stepped back. "What? Why?"

Sasuke held out his hand. "Our mission is to keep you alive. The faster we finish the exam, the faster we can get you out of here. Besides, you will be in less danger if you do not have a scroll."

Katara shook her head. "I'm not sure I understand your logic. If you go to the tower with your two scrolls, then you will have to leave us in danger. Even if we have no scroll, the other teams won't know that and will attack us anyway. The only way to get us all out of here is if we have two sets of scrolls."

Sasuke nodded. "That's even more reason why you should tell me which scroll you have. It might be the one we need to complete our set and then we can concentrate on protecting you for the remainder of the time."

"Or," Sokka reasoned, "If our scroll compliments yours, then you could give your scroll to us so that we can reach the tower and get ourselves out of danger and you would have the rest of the time without having to worry about us."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Why do you want to take this exam anyway?" Naruto asked. "Kakashi sensei said that they're only letting you because you are the Avatar. So what's so special about the exam that makes you want to pull rank?"

Inner Sakura face palmed. What the hell was Naruto doing just blurting that out? Ninja's don't just outright ask their targets for the information they sought!

Unaware of Sakura's mental outburst, Katara saw this as a perfect opportunity. "Naruto's right." She spoke up. "Why are we doing this?"

Aang smiled, "Well, for one thing, to make friends, and-"

Sasuke cut him off. "To make friends?" He exclaimed. "You take refuge among mercenaries and partake in one of their elite tests of battle skills and survivability to make friends? You're stupider than Naruto."

"Well we got to meet you guys right?" Aang offered.

Sasuke was slowly encroaching nearer the Avatar. "You think this is all fun and games? Do you even think of how your actions affect others? What a burden you are to us? We protect you because it is our job, our duty, not because we want to. You are my charges, guests of The Leaf. I would never call you a friend." He spat.

Sasuke's teammates looked at him shocked. He had never gotten this out of line before. Usually it was Naruto who took up beef with the costumers.

Toph crossed her arms angrily. "Look here, grumpy grudge." She said. "We never asked for your protection and with an attitude like that, we wouldn't want to be friends with you anyway."

"Uhhhh… I'm gonna take a leak." Naruto excused as he walked off into the woods.

Sakura glanced between the two groups: Sasuke and everyone else. "F-For all we know, we might have the same scrolls, so…" She trailed off and a tense silence hung in the air until the exuberant orange came back from his bathroom break.

Naruto walked back over to the group. "Ah, that was a lot! I was able to write my whole name!"

"Grrrr!" Sakura growled, "Naruto you are such a pig!" Suddenly Sasuke threw a shuriken at Naruto. He dodged it, throwing himself into a roll.

"What was that for?!" He yelled. "Are you just mad at everyone today?"

"Shut up and tell me where the real Naruto is!" Sasuke ordered.

"What are you, crazy?" Naruto yelled. "I'm right here!"

The gaang looked at each other. He looked just like Naruto to them. Sounded just like him too. Maybe Sasuke really had gone mad.

"Wait." Toph said. "He's right, something's off about this guy. His vibrations are way different from Naruto's"

"And the real Naruto has a scratch on his cheek from the examiner." Sasuke added. "Not to mention that he keeps his ninja tools on his right leg, not left. He also would never dodge a shuriken with a roll."

The fake Naruto smirked. "You got me." There was a puff of smoke as the jutsu was released. The hidden rain ninja growled through his mask, "Now tell me which team has a heaven scroll, or I'll take you both out starting with the benders." In a flash, he was behind Aang, with a Kunai at his throat. Aang took a deep breath and blew downwards propelling him ten feet in the air. Sakura launched off the ground and caught him mid flight and set him on a tree branch. She stood in front of him with her kunai drawn.

Sakura yelled down to Sasuke, "You handle this guy, I'll protect Taro."

Sasuke was already on the job. As soon as Aang was out of harms way he had begun to attack the rain ninja. Their blades clashed in combat and they sprung away from each other. They heard a yell in the distance. It was Naruto.

"A little help here?" he cried.

The rain ninja chuckled, "better keep your attention on the battle." He swung at Sasuke who dodged.

"You too!" Katara yelled and hit him from behind with a blade of water. The rain ninja melted into a puddle and Katara shrieked in surprise. "Did I kill him?"

"No, He was just a water clone." Sakura yelled out. "I thought you benders could sense your element."

"Stop believing your eyes and listen to your other senses." Sasuke advised.

Katara closed her eyes and thought. "Toph! Watch out!" Toph had gone to free Naruto when a water clone struck her from above. As she fell to the ground, a heaven scroll rolled out of her robes. Using her seismic sense, as soon as she felt it hit the ground, she made the earth envelope it.

"You Dirty bender! Give me the scroll!" The ninja screamed, preparing to kick Toph still on the ground. Naruto, still tied, jumped up and head butted the clone who turned into water on impact. Expecting more resistence, Naruto lost control and fell bellie first into the puddle of mud the clone had become. Flopping around, he yelled for someone to untie him and Toph told him to hold his horses.

Sasuke turned to Katara. "Do you sense any more water clones?" he asked.

Katara shook her head. "No. Now that I think about it I don't think the real one was ever here."

Sakura and Aang hopped down from the tree. "Like I said," Sakura repeated, "No use fighting if we both have heaven scrolls." Toph stomped the ground and a scroll popped out of the earth. Katara caught it.

"Since I'm blind, I figured I'd hold the scroll in case it fell open and showed its contents." She explained. "But maybe it's best if you hold it."

Over in the distance, the group had drawn an audience of two. A grass ninja melted into the background and a sand ninja wearing a mask like Kakashi's hid in the branches. He had not anticipated the Avatar being assigned guards. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"We need a password." Sasuke stated. "Something only the seven of us know. I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention. The question will be; when does a ninja strike? And the response will be; a ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night that is the moment for a ninja to strike. Got it?"

Naruto grumbled. "You got anything shorter?"

"I thought you ninja were great at memorization." Sokka teased. "Otherwise you'd get constipated."

"Yea well, I just thought it would be a pass-word not a pass-sentence." Naruto retorted.

"Why can't the question be when does a bender strike?" Toph complained.

Sakura sighed. "Because no one's supposed to know who you are. The fact that that rain ninja's clone knew you were benders means that we need be more carefull."

"Okay, then how about when does a guy with a boomerang strike?" Sokka offered.

Suddenly a huge wind blasted the group sending everyone flying. Aang engaged his glider and swung around to catch his teammates, but by the time the wind died down, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were nowhere to be seen. The hidden masked ninja smiled. Perfect.

"Are you guys all right?" Aang asked worried.

"We're fine," Toph answered, "but what was that?" The gaang looked about at the destruction around them. It was like the wind had come out of nowhere. The enemy was good. It almost seemed like they intended to separate the two groups.

"We need to find the others." Aang thought out loud. "They could be in danger."

Katara shook her head. "They'll be fine. This is what they have been trained to do. We need to stay sharp. The enemy separated us from our guards for a reason."

Sokka thought for a bit. "I think Aang might be right. We may not be the targets here. If we were, the enemy would know that Aang could protect us from the wind."

"If that's so," Katara reasoned, "Then we should stay here. We'll wait until the others fight off their opponent and come to get us. That's their job."

They all looked up as they heard an ominous laughter from above them. "You should worry less about your friends, and more about yourself!" The masked figure cried as he lunged at them. The figure landed behind Aang and made a grab for him. Aang jumped away.

The gang looked at the assailant. "Kakashi! Why are you attacking us?" Aang screamed. His head spun, trying to make sense of the situation. There was little time for thought, however, as Aang was soon attacked again.

The figure laughed as he knocked away Sokka's boomerang. "I didn't think you were that stupid Avatar." He growled.

Katara gasped as it finnaly hit her. "This was your plan all along!" She realized. "You never meant to protect us, you were sent to capture Aang. You had your team lead us to you, then pretend to be blown away."

"That makes no sense, Katara," Sokka yelled as he dodged a kick from their aggressor. "Why would he intentionally take us on alone?"

Toph was thinking hard. This person's fighting style was familiar, but who was he? She had never witnessed Kakashi fight, so she had nothing to compare it to. Then, in a flash, it came to her. "Guys!" She warned. "This isn't Kakashi, it's-" Her cry was cut off as a huge fireball exploded towards them. They were knocked back by the force of it and fell to the ground coughing up ash. When the flames died down, there among the smoke and charred shrubbery, stood Zuko. He pulled down his facemask and tore off his Sand Village headband. He walked closer and stood over them menacingly. However soon the triumphant smile on his face suddenly turned to one of horror. Katara turned to see what he was looking at. Behind them was a giant centipede clacking its enormous pincer jaws. With the rustle of a hundred legs, the big bug came at them with amazing speed. Toph stamped her foot making a hole big enough to swallow them all up. It closed over their heads and they were left in pitch-blackness listening to the rumble of the centipede above them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice save Toph. But what now?  
> I hope I captured Sasuke's arrogance and frustration. Did I succeed?


	10. In the Hole, Out of the Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What just happened? What now? They discuss.

Chapter Ten: in the hole, out of the hole

"Wow, it's so dark, I can't see a thing." Sokka mentioned.

"That must really suck for you." Toph retorted sarcastically. "You're welcome for saving your lives, by the way."

"Thanks Toph." The others chimed in.

Sokka groped around in the dark to find the others. "We need to figure out what we're going to do next." He said.

Aang spoke up. "I say as soon as Toph senses that the centipede and Zuko are far enough away, we get out of here and look for the others. Then we finish this exam and tell the hokage that Zuko has infiltrated the village."

"What'll that do?" Toph asked. "They can't interfere with the fire lord and Zuko is his son."

Katara bit her lip. "Maybe," she thought out loud, " I know this sounds terrible, but if we don't tell Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura that Zuko found us, then they'd still be obliged to protect us."

They sat in silence for a while. "I can't do that." Aang said. "I don't want to impose any further on these good people. You heard how much of a burden Sasuke said we were."

"That's right," Sokka added, "Sasuke and Kakashi were downright hostile to us. I bet they wouldn't mind a bit if Zuko captured us. I think they really were colaberating with him from the start. Kakashi must have been the one to give him his facemask."

"mmm… Let's not assume things." Aang offered. "I doubt they had anything to do with it."

"Either way, we're going to have to do the rest of the exam alone." Katara concluded.

0o0o0o0o0

Zuko opened his eyes to a cocoon of sand surrounding him. Out side the barrier, Gaara's face twitched. His arm was outstretched and quivering. 'Kill, kill, kill, kiiilll,' he thought.

"Don't do it." Kankuro warned as Temari took out the centipede with a single wave of her fan. Gaara didn't move. With the clenching of his fist the sand would crush in on Zuko and pulverize him. "Gaara." Kankuro pleaded. "We'll be disqualified if a team member dies. Remember our mission."

Gaara did not hear him. "Mother." He moaned. "Would you like to taste some royal blood mother?" Gaara gritted his teeth. 'I must… I must verify my existence.' He thought. 'I want to feel alive. His eyes are like mine, full of sadness. I must kill that sadness. Make it go away, I must crush the sadness until it no longer exists.' Sand flew up to protect Gaara from a shuriken that his older brother had thrown at him.

Kankuro had had enough. "Stop it Gaara." He yelled. "You're not the only person in the world, you know."

Gaara turned his death glare to his brother, but at least the crazy look and left his eyes. He let is arm drop and so did the sand surrounding Zuko. Walking over to Kankuro, the taller boy tried not to cower under his gaze. "Once I kill everyone else on this planet." He murmured. "Then I will be the only one in this world. But then I will have no one else to kill and have no purpose to living."

Zuko stepped over the pile of sand, not bothering to thank the sand siblings for saving him. "And where do you think you're going?" Temari hollered. She glared at the moody teen. She hardly knew the prince, but he seemed reserved and determined, like that Uchiha boy. Sasuke and Zuko had similar traits; both had curtains of black scruffy hair framing their handsome faces. Zuko was more in her age range, sixteen, one year older than herself. Temari found this appealing.

"I'm going after the Avatar." Zuko said plainly.

Kankuro chuckled. "Sorry, pal, you had your chance. Now you're coming with us." He held up his hand and waved the complete set of scrolls. Zuko begrudgingly followed them, reasoning that he'd have time enough to capture Aang in the final tournament in front of the crowd of spectators. He came up beside Temari and thanked her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Temari snapped. "Gaara was the one to save your ass, not me."

"You blew away those ninja with your fan who were protecting the Avatar. I would never have been able to get close to him if they had been there." Zuko admitted.

Temari sniffed. "That wasn't me. I'd never help someone as weak as you. Couldn't even handle a bug."

"Watch it, wind woman!" Zuko growled. She stalked off and ran ahead of the group, wondering who was the person who did separate team seven from the Avatar.

Over in another part of the woods, Naruto hung unconscious from a kunai that pinned his clothes to a tree. Sakura trembled as Orochimaru left Sasuke a parting gift before melting into the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what'dya think of Zuko and Temari? The thought only came to me because in the show, Temari thinks Sasuke is hot but he's like twelve, so that's really creepy. Zuko and Sasuke are pretty similar, arrogant, angsty, good looking... In a way Temari and Zuko are like princess and prince, but that might not be the direction I'm going for. I am a HUGE shikatema fan, so IDK if I'll do anything with Zuko. It depends on what you think. Oh yeah, and I was also kind of considering Zuko and Gaara since they're both so moody, it would be fun. It would happen when they're older of course, so the age gap wouldn't be a problem. Also tell me if you think this fic shouldn't have romance in it at all. It's really unimportant to the plot line and might just take away from the story.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	11. The Preliminaries Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the help of Kabuto, the gaang makes it out of the fire and into the frying pan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a direct quote from the third hokage's speech in episode 37 of Naruto.

Chapter eleven: The Preliminaries Begin!

It was nearing the end of the time limit and the gaang still hadn't found an earth scroll. They were about to give up when they saw a familiar figure approach them. It was the guy they saw talking to team seven before the written test. Kabuto saw them and hesitated.

"Do you have an earth scroll?" Toph asked.

Kabuto was wary. "I might. What are you going to do about it?"

"Do you want our heaven scroll?" Sokka offered.

Kabuto looked shocked. "Why would you just give it to me?" He questioned. "Are you just giving up? Don't do that. I'm sure you'd all make wonderful chunin. I already have both scrolls, so if you help me to the tower, I'll help you get an earth scroll."

They made a deal.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the end, all rookie genin as well as the Avatar's team made it to the tower in time. They all filed into the battle hall, noticing how everyone looked tired and disheveled. The Hokage began to speak. "This is a custom in which balance is preserved by fighting and dying. In the world of the shinobi, that is friendship. The third exam is a fight for life with the pride of your village and your own dreams at stake."

The hokage was about to explain the details of the third exam, when the proctor Hayate Geko stepped in. He announced that before the third exam could take place, a preliminary must be staged. He explained that many important people would come to see the third exam and they only wanted to see the best. The preliminaries would begin immediately so Hayate suggested that anyone not in peak condition step out. Aang was looking at Sasuke. He didn't look so good. The way he held himself suggested that he was in a lot of pain. Maybe they should have gone to save them. A cough came from the front of the group. Kabuto put his hand up to leave.

"What are you doing Kabuto?" Sokka asked. "After telling us not to quit, you just get up and leave?"

Kabuto smiled sadly. "I'm sorry Sokka." He apologized. "I'm afraid that I used up all of my energy getting to the tower. Having another battle right after the last one, I just can't do it." He waived and left. 'Besides,' He thought to himself, 'I already did my job getting you to the one on one battles. Soon enough Aang will have to fight Sasuke and bring out his true powers, just as Orochimaru has planned.'

"We should go too," Katara urged. "We're in way over our heads. Did you hear what the old man said? They call killing friendship! And besides, if we make it to the next round, there'll be figureheads from all over watching us. What if we're found out? Now that Zuko's here, we can't stay here any longer."

Sokka patted his sister on the head. "Don't worry, Katara. We'll be too far away for any of them to notice. And besides, we've been evading Zuko this long, right?"

Katara smacked his hand away. "Why are you all so determined to continue in this exam?" She exploded.

"It's because I want to understand them." Aang answered. "I want to know what it means to be a shinobi. Fighting and killing may not seem friendly to us, but I want to know why it does to them. Their world is so different from ours. As the Avatar, I want to see how our worlds connect. I heard Naruto once say that true warriors can read each other's thoughts by fighting. Maybe if I fight these people, then I can finally connect to them."

Katara turned away from her teammates. "You do what you want." She told them. "I'm leaving." Katara raised her hand and excused herself from the fighting hall. With that, Hayate commanded the panel be opened and two names be chosen at random. First up was Sasuke versus Yoroi Akado. The others cleared out to the upper level.

"This is just great." Toph moaned. "I can't see a thing if I'm not on the same level. I guess I'll just take a nap." After he won the battle, Sasuke was rushed off by Kakashi. Sokka noticed that during his fight, strange markings seemed to glow all over his body for an instant. Maybe it was a ninja thing. They all looked up expectantly at the panel to see who was going next. Zaku, of the hidden sound was to fight Taro. Who was that? Zaku made his way down to the battle level. He didn't look like much of a match as both his arms were in slings.

"How did he get in that condition?" Sokka wondered.

Sakura shuddered at the memory. "It was Sasuke. He broke that boy's arms."

Sokka was taken aback. "That's harsh!" Thinking, he added spitefully, "Is he the guy who separated us from you? Or was that just part of your plan?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked. "What plan?"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "You know, the plan to ditch us in the woods in enemy hands?"

Sakura's jaw dropped. "How dare you." She blurted out. "You have no idea!" Her eyes began to fill with tears as the memories of their fight with Orochimaru flashed in her mind. "Did it ever occur to you that we might have been in danger? Did you even try to look for us? You selfish jerk!" Tears of anger were pouring down her face. Sokka noticed for the first time that her usually long pink hair had been roughly chopped off at the neck. There were bags under her eyes, she was covered in dirt and there were some nasty gashes on her arms and legs. It also looked like she was recovering from a black eye. She was a mess. Sokka felt guilty for what he had said. He reached out a hand to her but she swiped it away and ran to the other end of the balcony where she stood next to Naruto.

Zaku waited expectantly. "Well?" He asked, "Are you coming Taro, or are you too scared?" Aang felt an elbow in his ribs.

"Hey twinkle toes," Toph whispered, "that's you. Your fake identity is Taro remember?"

"Oh, right." Aang jumped off the balcony and floated down to Zaku. With that, the battle between the avatar and the sound ninja finally began.


	12. Aang vs Zaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they fight. duh.

"Are you sure you can fight without your arms? I don't want to hurt you." Aang asked, concerned.

Zaku smirked. "Well lookey here. It seems this one can move a bit. I guess one arm will be enough for you." He ran at Aang, throwing a punch at his head. Aang easily jumped over it. Zaku continued to throw blows but Aang just kept on evading every one. "Stop running away!" Zaku howled. Punch after punch, he would miss Aang by mere inches. At the last moment of one such attack, Zaku opened his hand and Aang flew backwards. Zaku smiled triumphantly. "You weren't expecting that, were you?" Indeed, Aang was shocked. How could this ninja use wind power? Trembling, he got up.

"A-are you an airbender?" He asked, his heart racing.

Zaku scoffed, "There are no more air benders. My body has been modified to have wind tunnels in my arms. I use my chakra to control the air pressure in the tubes. This is the way of the future." He opened his hand again but this time, Aang was ready. As the blast of air came at him, he redirected it under him into an air scooter and charged at the sound ninja. Zaku was taken off guard. Aang sent him head over heels with an attack of his own. The sound ninja got to his feet. How was this leaf genin doing that? Zaku didn't see any holes in his palms or any other signs of body modification, and the boy didn't so much as make a hand sign. It didn't matter. He needed to end this. He ran at Aang again, preparing another punch. As expected, Aang dodged and Zaku flung out his other arm and grabbed the boy's leg. He slammed Aang on the ground and stood over him with his palms outstretched. Aang could see the malice in his eyes. It was as if he believed that destroying Aang would make his dreams come true. Zaku blasted Aang with both his arms. Lying on his back, Aang used his legs to redirect the attack and tie it into a whirlwind. He kipped up to his feet and jumped over Zaku as he fired another blast of wind at him.

"I can send anything you give me back at you." Aang told him. "Please just forfeit this fight so that I won't have to hurt you."

Zaku scowled. "Don't take me for a fool, coward! I know you're bluffing. Start fighting back if you dare."

Aang hated to hurt anyone; it was against his upbringing at the monastery. But he couldn't think of any other way to end this match. Was this the experience meant to allow you to truly understand your enemy? All Aang knew was that this boy seemed afraid. Not of him, but of life. It was like he held fear within his very core. Aang felt a wave of compassion rise in his chest. He questioned his opponent. "Why did you get those holes in your arms? Didn't it hurt?"

"Of course it did." Zaku panted. "Worst thing I ever felt. But that's the sacrifice I'm willing to pay to make me powerful!" Zaku Swung at Aang. "You can't run away from my wind!" Aang easily redirected the air to the side and around him and back at Zaku, propelling him into the back wall at such force that a crater was formed. Aang had beaten Zaku but he felt defeated himself. He watched sadly as the medical ninjas carried the sound ninja off in a stretcher. Aang walked up the stairs to the viewing balcony.

"I take it you won twinkle toes?" Toph yawned. "You could've kept it going longer, I was enjoying the breeze."

"Sorry Toph," Aang answered absent-mindedly, "I couldn't watch him continue to hurt himself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, another shorty. I'm working on improving my fight scenes, but this will have to do. Leave a review or send a message if you have an idea for a cool fight/interaction and I'll try to fit it in.


	13. Neji vs Zuko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle of honor

Chapter Thirteen: Neji vs Zuko!

The panel flashed names until it came to Neji and Li. Rock Lee looked at his teammate. "I see it is finally time for our show down." He clenched his fist in anticipation. "I have waited long for this moment."

"And you will have to wait a bit longer, as it seems." Said Gai. "If they meant you then they would have put down your full name. That sand ninja with the mask like Kakashi is named Li." Oh how he hated those facemasks. They always made the ladies assume you were handsome. That Kakashi, always reading his books, he was a smart one. There was a reason why he was Gai's number one rival.

"I could have waited longer, but getting this false hope is killing me." Rock Lee whined. "You better win Neji! I hope to battle you in the finals." He called down to his teammate.

Neji smiled back with his pale white eyes. "That's assuming you make it to the finals!" He called back.

Toph sneered. "He'll make it all right. Rocky's a tough one. Right Sokka?... Sokka?"

Sokka was busy staring at 'Li'. He wondered how he had come up with such a plain name. Sokka shook his head. He felt sorry for whoever was Zuko's opponent.

Neji looked his opponent up and down. He wore standard sand ninja garb and his forehead protector covered his left eye.

"Could it be you hide some stolen visual prowess under your mask?" He queried. "No matter. No stolen eye would be a match for byakugan."

Putting his hands together, Neji activated his eyes. He was stunned at what he saw. This Lee looked as if he were dead. Neji could see no chakra at all running through his body. Could this be a genjuitsu? As soon as the proctor started the battle, Zuko leaped at Neji, throwing a hard kick at his head. Neji rased his armes to block the kick. His leg was solid enough. It was time to play some psychological games. "Give up." Neji prompted. "These eyes of mine can see what you truly are. A failure. Give in to your destiny and accept your fate." Zuko narrowed his eyes and threw himself into battle. He swung and dodged and swung again. They were evenly matched when it came to hand to hand combat. Neji took his adversary's sudden increase in fervor to mean that he had hit the nail on the head. This was good, finding an emotional weakness. Neji was at a significant disadvantage by not being able to see this boy's chakra network. "You cannot escape your destiny, Li." He goaded. "I should know being a member of the branch family of the hyuga clan. My father died to protect the head family. If he couldn't escape his fate, why should you?"

"Enough!" Zuko yelled. "I am destined to regain my honor."

"Only failures lose their honor, and failures are destined to fail!" Neji answered.

"Shut up!" Zuko screamed. His father's voice rang in his head. Your sister was born lucky. You were lucky to be born. "I will never stop until I regain my honor!" he shouted.

Neji fought endlessly and accurately, sure that each time he hit; he blocked a key chakra point even though he could not see it. Still, his challenger did not fall. By this time, his organs should have been failing. "Do you expect to make your parents proud with measly talent like that?" Neji provoked. Zuko had had enough. He swung his leg around releasing a fireball that sent Neji flying. He hit a wall and slumped down, his shirt smoldering. "No wonder you have no chakra." He groaned. "You're a fire bender." Neji looked up to see Zuko's fist in his face.

"And don't you forget it." Zuko growled.

Hinata rushed to her cousin's side. "Neji!" She gasped. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Neji growled. Would you please fetch Guy sensei for me lady Hinata?" Once the green clad workout maniac had come to his student's side, Neji beconed for him to lean in closer. "Li is a fire bender he whispered."

Guy grinned and gave and exuberant thumbs up sign. "You finally noticed! Lee's fiery youthful passion has burned his entire life. You could do well to learn from him Neji."

"No, you idiot!" Neji barked. "Not Lee, Li! My opponent had no chakra I tell you! None of my attacks worked."

Guy shook his head sadly. "I know it must be tough for you Neji, but even a genius like yourself will come upon an opponent that they must work to defeat. You must have over used your byakugan in the forest of death. You strained your eyes and that's why you saw no chakra."

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Neji pleaded with the last of his energy, "You could see for yourself that his last attack was bending!"

"Actually it looked just like the uchiha's fireball jutsu to me. Who knows how the sand got ahold of that technique." Guy said scratching his head.

The medical ninjas loaded Neji onto a streacher and took him away.

The next fight was between two ninja that the gaang didn't know.

The match ended and the next was shown to be between Ino and Sakura. Sokka stood at the rail next to Toph and whispered to her what was going on. He narrated for her next matches between Naruto and Kiba, Temari and Tenten, and the match between Kankuro and Kabuto's other teammate. Then, Sokka was called to fight. He was set to battle Suki Kyoshi of The Leaf. Aang then stood in for him being Toph's eyes.


	14. Sokka vs Suki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second chance to prove a man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sokka's little rap is a quote from the haiku episode.

Chapter Fourteen: Sokka vs Suki!

Suki Kyoshi had auburn hair and wore a black cowl neck dress with a golden circle on the front outlined in green. Characteristic of the Kyoshi clan, Suki had red markings on her eyelids that ended in points down the sides of her nose. She pulled two golden fans out of her knife holsters on her legs and flipped them open. "I remember you." She said. "We were sent to stop you jerks in the land of waves for harassing the wildlife."

Aang winced. He did have a love of wrangling wild animals, but it's not like he was hurting the elephant koi, only riding them. Who knew the giant sea monster unagi would get so mad about it.

Suki thought back to that particular mission. "I can't believe a weakling like you could actually become a genin," she said.

Casually stretching as he walked down the stairs, Sokka admitted, "You only got me last time because it was a sneak attack. Besides, I've gotten a lot stronger since then. What, are you going to do now, blow me away like that Temari girl did? Your fans seem a mite too small for that. Unless of course, you plan to blow me away with your good looks." Sokka winked.

Suki rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, size doesn't matter. You should know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka squawked. "You know, for a girl, you have a really rude attitude."

Suki smiled. "Come at me. Or are you not man enough?"

Sokka crossed his arms. "It's really not proper for a man to beat a girl, but you asked for it." He reached for his boomerang.

"How about a little blind girl, Sokka?" Toph called out. "You're gonna get it from me after this battle if you don't stop being so sexist!"

Suki raised an eyebrow. "Sokka? I thought your name was Sakumo."

Oops, their cover was blown. Oh well. "They call me Sokka, it's pronounced with an 'okka', I'm gonna rock ya!" Sokka rhymed as he threw his boomerang. Suki knocked it away with one of her closed fans and charged at him. She swung a fan at his head and he blocked with his water tribe club. Never stopping for a moment, Suki bounced away and swung her other open fan at Sokka's face. He leaned back to avoid it but not fast enough. The edge of her fan sliced into his cheek. "Ow!" Suki rolled her eyes. She clacked one of her fans shut and threw it at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. Before he could recompose himself, she was before him and punched him in the gut. Sokka crumpled.

Suki grabbed her fan and stalked off. Her teammates congratulated her. "Wow, Suki, good job! You didn't even have to use your jutsu!"

Grumbling to himself, Sokka also returned to upper deck, waiving away the medical ninja that came to inspect him.

"That was embarrassing." Shikamaru commented. "Getting beaten by a girl. Sokka. Especially a Kyoshi. They're so troublesome."

"Ah shut up." Sokka muttered.

The panel flashed names until it landed on Shikamaru versus Kin. "I guess I'm next." He sighed. "And it's another girl. What a bore." Sokka glared at Shikamaru's back as he made his way down to the lower level. He sulked as he watched he other boy fight. The gaang heard a sigh from behind them. It was Kakashi. 'When did he get back here?' Aang wondered.

"You people really don't know how to keep your names straight, do you?" Kakashi asked. "You're putting the whole village at risk by not staying undercover, you know. The hokage has decided to let you keep your real names since it's too suspicious to have you forgetting your fake ones all the time." He said.

"Hey it's not our fault the hokage gave us weird names." Sokka complained. "What kind of a name is Sakumo anyway?"

"Sakumo was my father's name." Kakashi stated.

Sokka gulped. "Oh, and it's a great name! I love it!"

"Well you won't be going by it anymore." Kakashi said coldly. "A name like Sakumo doesn't suit you." Kakashi turned to go.

Aang stared at the jonin's back as he walked away. Would he really betray them? He did not even try to hide his distain for them. 'Why does he hate us?' Aang wondered. 'And is he really working with Zuko?'

The team watched as Hinata fought one of Suki's teammates and tied, leaving them both out of the running. Next up was Shino, fighting Suki's other teammate and winning. Toph could tell that Rock Lee was getting impatient. He was fidgeting and his heart rate had changed. As the names on the board flashed, Lee sulked. "I may as well go last, for all I care!" He announced. Toph could tell he was lying. The panel stopped and showed the names Gaara of the sand, and Rock Lee. Lee jumped up in glee. "It worked!" He cried. "By saying that I did not want to go, I was able to make it my turn!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, what's Kakashi's problem?  
> If anyone wants to write the story of Sokka and Suki's first meeting in this universe, go right ahead and send me a link if you do! I was going to put a flashback scene in, but I didn't feel like it.


	15. Gaara vs Lee (Toph POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wrapping up the preliminaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much exactly like episodes 48-50 of Naruto except that I focused on what it would be like to only know what was going on by sensing the location of the sand. There is a line break at the end of the fight if you want to skip it. The rest of the chapter is based on my own plot except for the quote from Kakashi.

Chapter Fifteen: Gaara vs Lee (Toph POV)

"Lee," Gai cautioned. "I have a strange feeling about that boy. We have no idea what is in the gourd on his back."

"I do." Toph offered. "It's sand. I can't see, but I can sense the movement of earth in space."

Lee grinned. "Thank you, Toph. I think that information might be helpful." With that, Rock Lee launched off the balcony and into battle. As the fight began, Lee ran at Gaara throwing his signature leaf hurricane kick. Immediately, sand burst out of the giant gourd and blocked his attack. Again and again, the sand stopped Lee's every move. Toph gripped the balcony railing hard. Sensing the sand, she could somewhat understand what was going on, but since she was not on their level, she could not feel the vibrations the ninja made as they moved. It was so frustrating. Aang and Sokka did their best to narrate the battle for her but they kept tripping each other up. Toph heard the others cry out as she sensed the sand swoop down. Had Lee been caught? No, Gai's heartbeat was too calm. He had faith in his student.

"Alright Lee." Gai announced. "Take 'em off."

Lee coughed. "Uh, but Guy sensei, you said that was only as a last resort when the lives of very important people were at stake."

"That's right, I did." Guy confirmed. "But this is an exception."

Toph could hear the excitement in Lee's voice as he prepared to take off his leg weights. Even on the second level she could feel the ground shake as Lee's weights fell to the ground. Lee became so fast that what at first had been difficult to describe to Toph, now became impossible. All Aang and Sokka could do to keep up was throw in a few half-baked remarks every few seconds along with exclamations.

"Yes Lee!" Guy bellowed, "Let the power of youth explode!"

Toph could sense something odd. Slowly at first, but then quicker, the sand formed into a thin shell in the shape of a human. She felt the shape get thrown as the other genin admired Lee's speed and agility. The sand man got up and part of his face began to crumble. If the other genin saw that Lee had hit the boy, then he must be using the sand as some sort of armor. Toph could feel the heart rates of Gaara's teammates and leader speed up. They were nervous. Aang whispered to Toph that Lee was unwrapping the bandages around his arms. He told her that Lee then began running in a circle around Gaara and she felt the sand being whipped along by the wind. Suddenly, she sensed the sand armor forced into the air by a series of blows. Something was wrong. Rising in mid air, Toph sensed the armor dissolve for a split second and then reform into the shape of a person. Then, the sand figure was thrown to the ground with Lee's move the primary lotus. Toph's heart fell. This was just a sand clone. She heard Lee panting as a wave of sand reached toward him. Toph closed her eyes as if that could drown out the sound of Lee's cries of pain as she sensed the sand crashing down again and again.

"I feel bad for the kid." Kankuro admitted. "Gaara's just going to toy with him until he begs for mercy."

"Then he's in for a long fight." Guy said. "Lee doesn't know how to give up. Besides, the lotus of the Leaf Village blooms twice."

Toph continued to sense Gaara's attacks but did not hear any cries of pain from Lee. He seemed to finally be able to move again after using the primary lotus. Guy and Kakashi seemed to be having some sort of argument having to do with gates and hidden lotuses, but Toph wasn't listening. All her attention was spent trying to figure out what was going on. An immense power was surging from Lee as he opened the third gate, the gate of life then it grew as he opened the gate of pain. Now, Lee was even faster than before. Toph sensed the sand worn by Gaara go this way and that, so fast that the rest of the sand couldn't keep up. She could feel that his sand armor was crumbling. Again, Lee's power increased as he opened the gate of closing. Gaara was flung to the ground but a split second before impact; Toph felt his gourd dissolve into sand, cushioning his fall just enough to keep him alive. Toph sensed the sand reach out towards Lee.

"He can't get away!" Sokka cried. "Someone, stop the fight."

Toph heard the horrible sound of Rock Lee screaming in pain as the sand crushed his left arm and leg. The sand reared up one more time to strike but was dispelled by Guy who came to his student's side. Such an act was out of Gaara's comprehension. He could not understand a human's love for another being. As the proctor announced Gaara the winner, the room gasped as Lee, still unconscious, stood up to fight. Blood was dripping down his crushed arm and leg. The medical ninja lay him down and took him away in a stretcher. Toph heard them say that he would never fight again. She realized that tears were running down her face.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's head. "Naruto, Lee was so fixated on his goal, that he sacrificed his body, his future to attain it. Now that goal is unattainable. But remember, Naruto, it wasn't just Sasuke and Neji he wanted to prove himself to. It was you as well. Rock Lee risked everything in hopes of meeting you in battle. Remember that. Be worthy of his sacrifice." He told him.

"Toph." Aang whispered gently. "I think you should drop out of this next match."

Toph wiped at her eyes. "What?"

"You and Choji are the last ones left." Aang explained. "I don't think you're fit to fight."

"I'm fine!" Toph snapped.

"Even if you are," Sokka put in, "I think this shows that Katara was right. We need to drop out of this exam."

"I can't do that." Aang replied. "I hate this, I really do, but what Kakashi said to Naruto, about Lee's dream to prove himself to his friends in battle, I still don't get it but I can't give up. As the Avatar, I need to understand these people. It is my duty."

"And it's my duty to avenge what Gaara did to Lee." Toph stated.

"What?" Aang and Sokka cried. "Did you see what that guy did? You can't possibly fight him."

"I can." Toph calmly countered. "And I will. I sensed every move he made with his sand. I know his skills and his weaknesses. And besides," Toph cracked her knuckles, "I'm the blind bandit, three time champion of Earth Rumple VI."

"Toph, this Gaara is nothing like the boulder. You have to forfeit this fight with Choji and drop out of the exam." Sokka argued. "You too, Aang. We need to stop." They weren't listening and Sokka had a sinking feeling that his sister was going to be a real pain when he admits that she was right. When the medical ninja had finished taking Lee away and cleaning up the blood, it was time for the last match of the preliminaries. Choji wanted to quit outright seeing as Toph had already beaten him in the woods when they had first met, but Asuma bribed him into fighting by saying that if he won, free barbeque would be in his future. The match was quick. (read author's note) Choji used expantion jutsu to make the human boulder, but Toph erected stonewalls all around him before he could collect enough momentum. She easily won.

"I guess I still need to bring my weight up." Choji joked. "How about you take me to lunch anyway, eh, Asuma sensei?"

Asuma smiled through his cigarette. "All right. Barbeque lunch for everyone, my treat!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of you were hoping for an epic battle with Toph in the preliminaries, and I'm sorry to disappoint you. This is just sort of how I thought would be most convenient way to wrap up the chapter. I can assure you though, there will be a ground breaking fight between Gaara and Toph (see what I did there?) but that will come much later.
> 
> I do feel like that was a bit of a cop-out making Toph's fight just one sentence long. If you want, I'm considering adding a bonus chapter in which Toph has a longer fight, maybe with Ten ten or someone else of your choosing. Leave a review or send me a message to tell me who you think she should fight. I'm feeling kind of lazy though so I'll only do it if you really want it. Tell me in a review or message. Thanks!


	16. Sokka's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka visits the Kyoshi compound and witnesses firsthand the clan's special jutsu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will be short stories focusing on individual characters. The style of this is based on Tales of Ba Sing Se, episode 35 of Avatar, the last Airbender. I'm sorry if these feel like filler chapters, they kind of are. I hope you like them anyway!
> 
> The participants were given a month to train before the final exam. They had been told of their opponents in the first round and were expected to prepare new jutsu to counter the other's skills. The first match was to be Naruto versus Li/Zuko. Then, Kankuro was to fight Shino. Next, was Temari against Shikamaru, Then Toph against Gaara, Aang against Sasuke and finally, Suki against her teammate poki lala. (I couldn't think of a good name)

Chapter 16, Sokka's story

Sokka's days were filled with boredom. He often found him wandering aimlessly. One would think that Sokka would have learned not to walk in on lessons after the event with the haiku, but one would be wrong. He was taking a stroll around the village when he heard some soft singing. Following the sound, he came to a set of modest houses with a sign that read 'Kyoshi compounds'. Over in the shade of one of the buildings, Suki and some other Kyoshi girls were practicing their moves. They immediately stopped singing once they saw Sokka approach.

"Sorry ladies, didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson. I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout." Sokka explained. "But since I happen to be here instead, why don't you show me some choreography."

Suki glanced at her cousins and smirked. "You want me to dance for you do you?" she asked. "Well Sokka, for you I'll even sing."

Some of the younger girls gasped. "Are you sure big sister?" They asked. "You're going to sing and dance for him?"

Suki smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll take gooood care of him."

Sokka blushed at her words. They seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Stand back," Suki told the other girls. "I'm going to demonstrate the dance of the bladed fan and sing the tune of the wind." Again, the other girls looked shocked at what she said. "I suggest you sit down." Suki told Sokka.

He shook his head. "Naw, I'm fine." He replied.

"If you insist." Suki stood still with her fans opened at her side. Looking down in concentration, a low hum escaped her lips as slowly she raised her arms. The notes began to tumble about and her fans followed the tones, resembling golden leaves in the wind. It was beautiful. Sokka's eyes followed the gleaming metal fans as the song lulled him into a stupor. They moved so slowly, and yet seemed to leave a sight trail behind them. The fans flowed like water, no like air, they tumbled like an avalanche and rose like flames. His vision was now completely filled with swirling gold. Out of the mist, thousands of knives projectiled towards Sokka and he found that he was paralyzed.

Sokka awoke to find himself in a soft pink bed with green vines embroidering the edges. He bolted upright and felt himself, surprised that he was in one piece. Angry voices sounded in the next room.

"But Mom!" Suki protested. "He literally asked for it."

"You know as well as I that he had no idea what he was asking for." The matriarch of the Kyoshi Clan chided. "To think that my own daughter would stoop so low as to fight a boy. Have you no honor at all?"

"Mom, he provoked me," Suki complained.

"And so you react like a little boy? Be a woman Suki!" Lady Kyoshi stopped, now aware that Sokka was awake. "Come with me." She ordered. Together the mother and daughter walked into the bedroom.

Suki gaped. "You put him in in my bed mom?"

The older woman glared. "Of course sweetie, that is the ladylike thing to do. Now, apologise." She ordered.

Suki pouted.

Sokka cleared his throat. "Uh, what happened?" Sokka asked. He immediately shrunk under the weight of the stare of lady kyoshi.

"My Apologies, Mr. Sokka," She bowed. "My foolish daughter used an ancient genjutsu technique on you that rendered you unconscious. Please accept her offer to take you on a date as recompense."

Suki and Sokka sweat dropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I love role reversals. What do you think the clan does with their sons?


	17. Toph's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ino and Sakura introduce Toph to the concept of romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you had to pair a Naruto character with an Avatar character, who would it be?

Toph's story (17)

Toph spent her days training. She needed to work on sand bending if whe was even going to have a chance against Gaara. At first it was very difficult to move so many tiny stones at once. Toph couldn't keep all their individual positions in her head but she eventually realized that she didn't have to. If she just sort of thought of the sand not as individual grains, but as one fluid rock, she was able to get the hang of it. She even picked up some of Katara's waterbending moves to aply to the new technique. Next, Toph focused on honing her metal bending skills, trying her hand at bending the knives and shuriken that were standard ninja tools. This was also slow going as the metal that the weapons were forged from had fewer impurities than her space bracelet that she normally practiced with. Finnally, Toph needed to work on agility. As she had witnessed during her runs with Lee and Sokka before the exam, speed was not her strong suit. So every morning when the sun rose, Toph went out to take a jog. On one such morning, after a couple laps around the village, Toph was running down the street when she heard arguing coming from a nearby shop window. It sounded like Ino and Sakura.

Curious as to what the commotion was about, and wanting to take a rest, Toph headed towards the sound of shouting. Stepping through a doorway, Toph felt refreshed as she found herself surrounded by lovely scented air. It must be a flower shop. Sakura and Ino stopped their arguing as soon as they heard the bell ring from the opening of the door.

"Welcome to the yamanaka flower shop! What you might be looking for? Flowers for someone special?" Ino chirped.

"Yeah toph, I wouldn't expect to see you at a place like this." Sakura said (she had always considered Toph to be more of a Tomboy.) "Why are you here?"

Toph shrugged. "I heard yelling, so what's the commotion about?"

"Hmph! Sakura's trying to win over my sasuke by bringing him flowers!" Ino yelled.

Sakura glared. "You're just mad cause I had the idea first the you dumb copy cat!"

Toph sweat dropped as sparks flew between the two rivals. "Well, I best be going, I have to train really hard if I'm going to be able to kick that Gaara's butt for what he did to Rocky." She said, and started backing to the door.

"Oh that's right!" Sakura exclaimed. "I forgot you're matched up against gaara of the sand. That's so noble of you to want to avenge lee like that."

"Yeah," Ino added, "your team could've dropped out by now. Are you sticking to it just for Lee?"

Toph blushed, "Well at first I just wanted to have some fun, but now I guess I really am just in it for Rocky." Toph's face saddened. "I only wish I could do more."

Sakura gave Toph a sympathetic look that she couldn't see. That gave Ino an idea. Leaning over, she whispered in Sakura's ear; "Hey forehead, I never thought I'd find anyone so perfect for Lee!" Sakura gave her a quizzical look and Ino explained. "I mean come on, no girl in their right mind would date a guy with such bushy eyebrows, but Toph's blind! And I think she likes him!" Sakura didn't even have time to reply before Ino started her matchmaking scheme. "I know something more you can do for him Toph!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Weeeeeelll…" Ino drawled out myscheviously, "Sakura and I were just about to bring some flowers to the hospital for Sasuke, why don't you come along and bring flowers for Lee?"

"Flowers?" Toph asked. "That seems a little…"

"Romantic?" Ino supplied. Toph was actually going to say stupid but what Ino said next caught her off guard. "If you really want to do something for Lee, you should become his girlfriend. I heard he likes you!"

Both Toph and Sakura looked incredulous. Ino shrugged at her pink haired friend as if to say 'beggers can't be choosers.'

By now Toph was a very bright shade of pink. "I can't," She said.

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know how to choose a flower. I don't know what they look like."

Sakura and Ino grinned at each other. "We'll help!" They said in unison.

"First off, flowers are not only appealing to the eyes, but to the other senses as well." Ino lectured. "On top of that, every flower has a meaning! You bring us ten flowers you think smell and feel the best, we'll narrow it down to the prettier ones, then tell you their meanings, and you can choose the perfect flower for Lee."

Toph was still hesitant. "I don't know…"

"Come on! I guarantee you this will win his heart for sure!"

Toph smiled at that. "Well I do like winning." She admitted. "All right, lets do this!"


	18. Aang's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang brings shinobi to their judgement day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allright… so I had this half-baked idea that I would make a filler chapter to piss you off. I was going to write something about Aang meeting Jiraya, or Gamabunta, or maybe inserting him into episode 185, legend of the onbaa. The idea was that Aang really loves animals and I wanted to draw that parallel. Like I said: half-baked. Well it turns out that I'm too lazy to write anything particularly irrelevant to the plot, so I won't. If any of you want to take those sorry excuses for story ideas and put them into existence, go right ahead. Send me the link so I can read it!

Chapter 18; Aang's story

Katara's search for one of her teammates to discourage from taking the exam ended when she finnaly found Aang atop hokage mountain, meditating. The air was cool, and a slight breeze played with her hair. It was very peaceful up there, above the sounds of the town, but Katara couldn't help but notice the stiffness in Aang's posture and the crease between his brows. "What's wrong Aang?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just thinking. I can't figure these people out. In someways they seem like normal people, but in other ways they're totally different. They're intense."

"Yeah, you're right about that…" Katara said after a pause.

Aang continued, "The kids here- they're forced to fight at such a young age. They're given unreasonable amounts of responsibility and treated like adults."

"Isn't that kind of like what the monks did to you, Aang? They gave you the responsibilities of an avatar before you were ready."

"That's different." Aang said. "My responsibilities are towards peace, theirs are towards violence for the sake of their village. I know everyone has some goodness in them, but deep down I can't help but feel like what they're doing is wrong."

"Then why-?" Katara began,

Aang cut her off, "Because I need to know, Katara. I need to know if ninjas are bad for the world."

"Aang, it's not your fault if there are bad people in the world." Katara said, concern in her voice.

Aang sighed and looked at his hands folded in his lap. "I know, but it's my job to fix it." Looking out over the village he said, "That's why it's so important that I figure out these people. If history took them down the wrong path, it is because I wasn't there to lead them. The ninja villages would never have existed if I hadn't run away from my responsibilities as avatar. They were created to cope with the chaos cause by my mistake. But now I'm back and I need to know if they do more harm than good."


	19. Katara's Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara sees Naruto with new eyes and gives him key information

Katara's story 19

Katara sat alone on a park bench. A week had passed since the preliminaries and not a day had gone by that she and her brother had not tried to convince Aang and Toph to drop out of the exam. Their efforts lead to nothing but hard feelings and arguments.

"Hey, Katara!" A familiar voiced called out to her.

Oh, it's him. That annoying boy from the forest of death. He was one of the ninja who left them to die at the hands of Zuko. She really didn't want to talk to him, but she couldn't let on that she knew he was an enemy. She nodded her acknowledgment of the orange ninja. "Hi Naruto." She noticed he had a rather large welt on his head.

"Say, Katara, you're a girl." Naruto observed.

"Uh huh…" Katara answered raising her eyebrows.

Naruto rubbed his sore head. "Why are girls so violent to boys?" he asked.

Katara remembered the feeling of freezing Jet to a tree, and those two boys in Ba Sing Se to get directions to earth rumble six. Then she thought of Toph sending a boulder the size of a table down a ramp at a blindfolded Aang when she was teaching him to earth bend. "I don't know what you're talking about." She answered innocently.

Naruto grumbled as he sat down next to Katara. "Sakura always hits me." Naruto complained. "Everything I do is dumb in her eyes." He pouted. "I don't even know what I'm doing wrong, and no one will tell me. All the other girls just say I'm hopeless." Naruto dropped his head in his hands and looked glum.

Katara was didn't know how to react. Naruto was usually annoyingly upbeat. She felt bad for him. He seemed clueless. She considered the blond ninja. She didn't think that he would be spilling his guts to her if he were in a plot against them. Plus he seemed too stupid to even keep a secret. Katara fell back as Naruto suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to show them my super ninja strength at the chunin exams." He exclaimed.

Katara shook her head. "Sorry, but that's not how you win a girl's heart."

"Even so, I have to win the first match. If I lose then the judges will only get to see me in that one fight and probably wouldn't make me chunin. And if I'm eliminated…" Naruto clenched his fists, "I won't get to battle Sasuke."

Katara sat forward. "I thought he was on your team, why do you want to fight him so badly?" She was surprised to hear Naruto laugh.

"Sasuke is more than a teammate, he's my best friend. We're like brothers. That's exactly the reason I want to fight him. Sasuke is so talented and I've always wanted to be like him. I believe that with enough training, I can beat Sasuke. It is the competition between us that has made us strong. That's what kept me going when I was eaten alive by a snake in the forest of death. All I ever wanted was for the whole village to acknowledge me, but if it ends up being just Sasuke, then that will be enough."

Katara stared at this boy, so earnest and full of hope. Sasuke was rude, standoffish and a loner, but he considered him his best friend. "You fight because you want to be acknowledged, but what if you end up like Lee?" She asked.

"I can't let that happen." Naruto answered. "I know I won't fail because now I fight not only for my dreams, but for his dreams as well."

Katara smiled. Something about Naruto just made you want to believe in him. "Naruto, there's something I need to tell you. Your first opponent is Li right? Well, how do I put this?" Naruto looked at her expectantly. "His real name is Zuko," Katara continued, "and he's a firebender." She told him everything she knew about Zuko. She wanted Naruto to win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, that's about it for the filler chapters. I'll be getting to the good stuff soon. In the meantime, leave a review, I'd really appreciate it. Tell me your favorite character of each show and if you think they would get along.


	20. The Final Tournament!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a fourth wall break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh, I guess you could call this another filler chapter but I'm gonna post this with another. I just didn't want to have to split up the fight.

The final tournament 20

“Big brother Naruto! Wake up.”

The sleepy ninja rolled over. “Konahamaru?” He murmured drowsily. “What time is it?”

“Time to get up Naruto!” Konahamaru yelled at the unresponsive Naruto. “We can’t have you running late to the final exam chased by a bunch of bulls like in the official show!”

“What are you talking about Konahamaru?” Naruto grumbled into his pillow.

“I’m talking about the Naruto TV show. You get chased by a heard of angry bulls on your way to the arena. You have to get up so that doesn’t happen!” Konahamaru shouted.

Naruto turned over with a yawn. “That’s the dumbest plot device I’ve ever heard. There aren’t even any bulls in Konoha. It would never happen.”

“You have to get up!” Konahamaru said and started pulling off the older boy’s blankets.

Naruto curled reflexively into a tight ball from being uncovered. “Uuhng allright allright I am getting up!” He groaned.

“I don’t see you moving!”

“Would you pipe down Konahamaru?!” Naruto shouted.

 

A few minutes later, both boys were seated in the kitchen eating breakfast, Naruto still in his sleeping cap and boxers. “So how did you get in to my house any way?” He asked.

“I don’t really know.” Konahamaru answered with a shrug. “The writer wanted me to tell you something before your fight, so I guess she just sort of wrote me in.”

“Oh.” Naruto said scratching his head. “What did she want you to tell me?”

“Er, he he, well you see…” Konahamaru trailed off. “I kind of forgot.”

“What!” Naruto yelled, reaching for the milk. “So you woke me up for nothing?”

Konahamaru’s eyes widened as he watched the carton rise to Naruto’s lips. “Wait! I think she told me to tell you not to drink the milk!”

Naruto stopped short then checked the expiration date. “Gee thanks Konahamaru! This stuff’s a month old. Do you remember anything else she wanted you to tell me?”

“Yeah, make sure to drink lots of water.”

“Lots of water?” Naruto asked. “That sounds like a bad idea. I don’t want to have to go pee in the middle of a fight.”

“But big brother Naruto,” Konahamaru pouted. “If miss Reba writer says you should do it, then you should do it.”

Naruto grinned. “Hey, I’m Naruto Uzumaki remember? I’ll be fine!”


	21. Naruto vs Zuko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire bending, shadow clones, Azula and how Kakashi's father died.

Azula took her seat in the middle of the royalty balcony located in center of the left viewing podium. Above and to her right, in the center podium was the Hokage’s box, reserved for the leaders of the ninja villages. It vexed Azula that she was put in only the second best seat of honor. How dare these peasants put members of the royal family second to their filthy kake? It was yet another reminder that the entire world was not under the divine rule of the Fire Nation. Yet. She contented herself by the fact that soon the Sand Village would destroy this place. Azula sat back and waited for the show to begin. She had wanted to see an exam take place ever since she herd of the barbaric ritual of setting children against each other in mortal combat. It was just her kind of entertainment. Reading the test itinerary, Azula saw that the matches would be one on one, sort of like a less honorable Agni kai, she thought. Finally the participants gathered in the arena. Then, all but the two competators filed out and the match began. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto’s face was set with determination. Zuko looked in disgust at the boy in orange before him. Naruto raised his arm and defiantly pointed, “I give you my word Zuko. I will win!” He declared. Zuko was taken aback. “How do you know my name?”

“Katara told me your true identity” Naruto answered.

Zuko laughed. “If she told you that, then she must have told you how powerful I am. You’re dumber than you look if you think you can beat me!”

“Don’t count me out!” Naruto warned as he rushed at Zuko. 

Zuko easily blocked the straight frontal attack with a blow of his own. He watched Naruto’s form fall to the ground in flames. Something was wrong. Bodies don’t burn so rapidly. He approached his victim. ‘Is this… a log?’ Zuko stumbled as Naruto’s foot collided into his back.

“What? Never seen substitution before?” Naruto yelled confidently. Another Naruto appeared in front of him and Zuko was propelled in the air by the force of the shadow clones’ kicks. Zuko roared and fired flames in every direction, dispelling the clones. He landed and skidded backwards, one hand on the ground for balance. He realized that his outburst had singed the mask he wore over his face. Zuko tore it off, it would only be a hindrance and there was no one here who would recognize him, or so he thought. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Azula leaned forward in her chair. Was that? It couldn’t be. But it was. That was her pathetic brother ZuZu fighting down there. Azula cackled at the realization. Yet again ZuZu was making an embarrassment of himself. Well, after this was over she had better have a little chat with big brother to stop him from making more of a mess of the family name and see what he had learned of the Avatar.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto found that it was much harder to get anywhere near Zuko now that he had wizened up to his tricks. None of his clones could make it through Zuko’s walls of fire. He had no choice but to suffer the inferno. Leaping and dodging the fiery attacks coming his way, Naruto was making no progress towards his enemy and could only barely avoid being hit. Panting, he wiped the sweat out of his eyes. He was hot.

“All tired out yet?” Zuko asked.

“Not a chance!” Naruto spat back. “I never go back on my word and I don’t give up, especially to anyone who mistreats my friends.”

“What did I ever do to your friends?” Zuko asked.

“You chased them all over the world, that’s what.” Said Naruto. “All they wanted was to live their lives and you decided to hunt them down like rabbits!”

“What do you care?” Zuko sneered. “Ninja hurt people all the time. Your people are nothing but thugs for hire, petty assassins. You carry out your missions no matter who it hurts as a duty to your village. I am only fulfilling my duty to my country by eliminate the danger the Avatar poses to my father.”

“What danger?” Naruto asked. “How do you know they’re a threat to you? Haven’t you ever heard of talking to people before attacking them?”

“Shut up!” Zuko yelled firing once again. “This is the path set for me and it’s not for a lowlife like you to understand the mandate of heaven. I will capture the Avatar and finally be welcomed home as a hero. As prince of the Fire Nation, I am destined to be fire lord but I must regain my father’s approval first.”

Panting as he rolled away from Zuko’s blasts, Naruto asked, “Is that really what you want? To gain respect from a father who burns and banishes his own son? Just to follow in his footsteps? I wouldn’t follow a father like that even if he were the hokage.”

“Enough you peasant!” Zuko said quaking with anger. “Let’s end this.”

Zuko sent a flying kick at Naruto who was too slow to get out of the way. Covering his face against the flames with his arms, he thought that surely this was the end. Shrieks filled the stadium as everyone saw Naruto get hit. But then, he opened his eyes. “What the?” Looking at himself Naruto saw that he was alive. Shrugging it off as good luck, Naruto took advantage of the shock and went on the offensive. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What just happened, Kakashi sensei?” Sakura asked. “I thought I saw Naruto get hit but did you see anything different with your sharingan?”

“No. Naruto was hit all right.” Kakashi confirmed. “It seems it was his sweat that saved him.”

“Huh?”

“Take a look. Just a moment ago, Naruto was dripping with sweat, now he’s totally dry. The fire caused all his sweat to evaporate and took the brunt of the heat.”

“Eeeew!” Sakura squealed.

Kakashi ignored his student’s squeamishness. Something was very off about this Li character. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flames chased Naruto around the ring; his attempt to get near Zuko failed. He was dodging and running and could still only barely stay uninjured. This was bad, he thought. There was no way to get past all that fire. While on the run, Naruto made hand signs for the shadow clone jutsu and fifty Narutos scattered all around the arena. As an enraged Zuko picked off the clones one by one, the real Naruto was waiting in the wooded area.

Zuko looked around him once he dispelled the last clone in a puff of smoke. Behind a tree something caught his eye: a patch of orange. Eager to finish the match, Zuko went in for the attack but discovered that it too was a clone. “Come out here coward!” He yelled. He ran around the trees searching for his opponent.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi narrowed his eye. “That Li is acting weird. He only uses fire style but he is from the Sand Village, and now he is running around so conspicuously that it almost seems like he’s not even a ninja.” With each blow Zuko sent Naruto’s way, Kakashi was more and more certain that he had seen this fighting style before. A long surpressed memory bubbled up from the back of his mind and Kakashi clenched his teeth under his mask. Sakumo Hatake, the white fang of the leaf village, lay burned and betrayed by his best friend. Now Kakashi was certain of it. Li was a fire bender.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko skidded to a halt when he saw Naruto standing in a clearing under a tall tree. “Don’t tell me you’re a fake too.” Zuko snarled. 

“Nope.” Naruto replied. “I’m the original.”

“So you’ve finally stopped running away and hiding behind your clones, you coward?” Zuko asked.

“You have it backwards, Zuko.” Naruto said.

“That’s prince Zuko to you.” Zuko snapped.

Ignoring him, Naruto went on. “You’re the coward. All you do is hide in your father’s shadow.”

“Shut up!” Zuko yelled. “This is the path I am meant to take.”

Naruto laughed. “Only cowards stay on the path.”

Zuko threw his flames but Naruto blocked with a wall of clones. Zuko attacked again, moving closer to his target but Naruto only made more clones. “Just accept your fate.” Zuko spat. “Unlike me, whose path will lead me to greatness, you will go nowhere. You will always be nothing.” Zuko advanced for his final attack.

“Now!” Naruto yelled.

“What?” Looking up, Zuko saw that above him in the branches of the tree hung hundreds of shadow clones all leaping towards him. He shot out fire but there were just too many of them and Zuko was soon buried under a pile of squirming orange bodies

“You’re wrong you know.” Naruto said. “True greatness can’t be gained as a birthright. I want to be hokage but there is no way that I would accept the title if it was just given to me from my parents. That’s not what it means to be hokage. To be Hokage means to be the best, to protect the village like family. That is a true leader, that is real greatness and anyone can achieve it. Even someone like me, an orphan without any family ties at all. When I’m hokage I’ll know that I got there on my own two feet. Will you be able to say that when you are fire lord? It’s those of us who have to struggle to get recognition that becomes strong. I don’t care how good you are at fire bending, as long as you keep on taking what is given to you instead of getting it yourself then you are weak.”

“The winner is Naruto Uzumaki” Genma announced. The crowd cheered. Naruto grinned and waved at the crowd. He then collapsed from dehydration. Should’ve listened to the writer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone catch the irony of Zuko telling Naruto to shut up when asked if he ever talks before fighting?  
> Naruto's so inspiring. He shows us that we can lead our own lives rather than take the path set out for us.


	22. Toph vs. Gaara!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight you've all been waiting for!

Kankuro had dropped out of his match with Shino. Shikamaru had forfeited after catching Temari in his shadow by disguising it as one of Zuko’s scorch marks. Suki lost after a drawn out match with her teammate and Sasuke was scheduled to fight Aang last. But that’s only after this battle, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

 

Toph versus Gaara!

 

Toph and Gaara stepped out into the arena. The audience groaned, seeing the pint-sized pair that was up next to fight. “Just skip to the Uchiha already!” someone yelled. Gaara looked his opponent up and down. She was small and blind but she radiated an air of defiance.   
Toph glared in the general direction Gaara was standing in and stated, “I don’t care about these exams. And I don’t think I can beat you. In fact, the only reason I’m here is to make you pay for what you did to Lee.”

Gaara couldn’t comprehend the emotion that Toph was showing. Why would she do so much for a failure? The memory of Toph crying floated into his head. His face twitched. He saw images of his uncle. You were never loved echoed through his mind. Gaara clutched at his head as he was overtaken by the floods of anguish that came with the memories of his childhood. Eventually, he calmed himself down by killing the fear inside him. At last he looked up. Next, he would kill this Toph girl.

Toph and Gaara took their starting positions; the boy motionless with his arms crossed and the little earth bender stood still as stone. Toph prepared herself. She waited and listened. “Fight already!” The crowd yelled impatiently. 

Genma sniffed. “I told you to start the battle. If you don’t begin immediately, I will have to eliminate you both.”

Finally Toph made her first move. Thinking back to her conversation right before the match she muttered, “You want hand signs, Kakashi? Oh I’ll give you hand signs.” Anticipation mounted as slowly she raised an arm. The little girl’s face was obscured from the crowd by a curtain of hair and they all wondered if she was about to forfeit. The girl’s hand clenched into a fist. Then, suddenly, she popped up her middle finger. The crowd gasped. “What the hell?” Someone screamed. “Did she just flip off her opponent?” Another yelled. “Eliminate her!” 

Toph swung her arm down and into her first earth-bending stance as she sent a sharp chunk of earth hurling at Gaara’s head. Sand sprung up and blocked the attack, morphing into a sand clone that crushed the rock in its hands. “Don’t bother.” Gaara said in his gravely voice. “I’ll only turn your attacks to more sand.”

“Not if I turn all your sand to stone first!” Toph yelled. In the time before the tournament, Toph had become quite proficient at sand bending, though earth and metal were still her primary elements. It would be best if she could get the sand out of the equation all together. Making sweeping steps, Toph wedged her arms down and in, attempting to solidify the sand in Gaara’s gourd. To her surprise, it only compacted but would not fully turn to stone. The two fighters played tug of war over control of the sand for a moment but Gaara inevitably won out. Tendrils of sand shot out from his gourd sending Toph back on the defensive. She ran and ducked and rolled and lifted boulders to block the waves of sand. She could tell that each time she did this however; Gaara’s sand would slowly create more sand out of her walls. Whenever she got the chance, Toph turned the converted sand back into stone. It was a surprise that she could manipulate that sand at all, considering that she was barely able to affect Gaara’s personal sand. That gave Toph an idea.

Growing tired of the game of cat and mouse, Gaara decided to end it with an attack from behind. But Toph’s blindness worked in her favor as a life without sight had honed her other senses. Even among earth benders, Toph’s ability to sense the location of earth was incredible. She was able to sense Gaara’s every attack, no matter the direction it came from. Gaara frowned when he realized that it seemed the blind girl he fought had no blind spot. Well, if he couldn’t take her by surprise, then he would have to attack her from all directions at once. The tiny grains bombarded her, and soon she was surrounded. 

“Sand grave.” Gaara muttered with his arm outstreached. Clenching his fist he growled, “Sand burial!” The croud gasped as his sand constricted around his victum. Suddenly, Gaara was taken off guard as a stone pillar erupted from the ground right in front of him, on top of which rode an unscathed Toph. She had escaped underground to avoid his deadly attack. Using the upward direction of the stone to enhance her own trength, Toph knocked Gaara off of his feet with an uppercut to the chin. She then caged him in a layer of rock trying to take a leaf from his book. The sand inevitably came to his aid and made quick work of her stone, pulverizing it to dust. This doubled the amount of sand he had in his arsenal, but also added 100% more sand that Toph could use against him. 

Again the two fought over control of the sand, Toph trying to mix hers evenly with his to provide enough resistence to slow down his attacks. This was inevitable to fail however, as she was not as keen in sand manipulation as he. Toph was also beginning to fatigue, as her style of fighting required much more physical movement than his. Gaara hadn’t even donned his sand armor, a fact that made Toph furious since it meant that he didn’t see her as even the tiniest of threats. Eventually out of options, Toph once again retreated under ground. Gaara leapt to the side as spikes rose up out of the ground he had just been standing on. Toph grinned in the darkness under the arena as finally she managed to send Gaara running instead of her. Every so often, Toph would pop out of the ground to try to land a blow or just to taunt her opponent. “Peekaboo!” She would shout. “Over here raccoon boy!” “Catch me if you can!” She burst out of the ground sticking her toungue out and blowing, only to land on, sand? Since her last trip below the earth, it seemed Gaara had managed to cover the entire stadium with a thin layer of sand causing Toph to slow down just enough for Gaara to wrap his sand around her feet and trap her above ground. She struggled but could not escape his grasp. More sand wrapped around her until both her legs were completely imobalized. It was Time for Gaara to begin his torment. He would make her pay for resisting death so long. He decided to give her a slow and bloody death.

Toph shrieked as a blade cut deep into her shoulder. Blood poured down her arm as she trembled in fear. She sensed more weapons coming her way and used metal bending to deflect them. Toph was much less adept at controlling metal than earth, and though she could keep them from hitting her organs, she couldn’t redirect their trajectory enough to miss her; only to keep them from doing irreparable damage. Toph panted from the pain of the cuts now all over her arms and face. She nedded to do something! Sending them back at Gaara would be pointless since he would be guarded by his ultimate defense. As it was, his sand was retrieving the knives to use again and again. He was having a field day using her as target practice. If Toph were to have any hope of coming out of this alive, she would have to destroy the metal weapons.  
Grunting with the effort, Toph finally managed to shatter the last of Gaara’s ninja tools. Metal shards sparkled among the pile of sand that imobalized her and it slowly began to swallow her up. “You’re mine.” Gaara said greedily.

Is this the end? Toph tought. Am I going to die like this? ‘No!’ Toph raised her head in indignation. ‘I am the greatest earthbender of all time! I invented metalbending!’ With that thought Toph mustered up the last of her strength to force the sand off of her and hid once again underneath the ground.   
Up in the daylight, Gaara howled in frustration. “Don’t go away!” He roared. Then he whispered, “They all go away.” Gaara shuddered and clutched at his head. “Why do you run away? Why do they all run away?” He began to groan as his fingers tightened in his hair. “I just wanted to play! Don’t you want to play with me Toph? Come out and play!”

Meanwhile below the arena, Toph was shaking in fear, but that did not stop her from her task. 

Up in the viewing podium, Gaara’s siblings watched in horror as their little brother slowly lost control.

Gaara tilted his head to the side, as if listening to something. “What’s that Mother?” He asked. “You think she’s playing hide and seek? Why do I always have to be the seeker?... You’re right mother, I am good at finding people. That’s because Shukaku has a very good nose.” Gaara grinned maniacally. “And claws for digging. Allright Shukaku! Let’s play hide and seek!” Gaara gathered his sand around him in a defensive ball as he began the jutsu for transformation. Sensing this, Toph hesitantly climbed out of the ground, ready for a trap. Nothing happened, so she began to make her final move. Gaara’s third eye watched her, but no outward attack seemed forthcoming. Instead Toph was struggling with all her might to bend the metal dust she had discretely incorporated into Gaara’s sand. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she struggled to move the particles of metal through the condensed sand. 

Gaara stopped his chanting within the darkness of his shell. He gasped at the sharp sensation he had never felt before. He didn’t like it. Gaara’s eyes widened as he saw his skin pierced with a hundred metal needles. How? An attack from within his own ultimate defense? “Get them off!” His mind shouted in horror, and like a wild animal, Gaara started ripping the metal out of his flesh, crying out at the unexpected pain. Blood trickled down his arms, his blood. 

 

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Gaara screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be nice. If you don't like the outcome of the battle, then message me politely. I have a ff.net account of the same name. Please don't flame me. If you have beef then go make a steak. Flame your beef, I don't taste good roasted.


	23. The Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konoha crush

Katara opened her eyes to see Sakura crouched next to her. The last thing she remembered was watching Toph’s fight. How could she have fallen asleep at such an important time? Katara tried to get up but Sakura pushed her down again signaling for her to be quiet. It was then that Katara noticed the clang of metal to metal and sounds of battle surrounding them. The two girls made their way down the isle on hands and knees, rousing Aang, Sokka, and Naruto on the way. Sakura was furious when she found Shikamaru pretending to still be under the genjutsu. She was about to go on a rant when Kakashi promptly showed up, carrying a battered Toph in his arms. “Naruto, Sakura, Paccun and Shikamaru, your mission is to escort the avatar and his friends to safety.” He said.

The gaang and their escorts hurried down the abandoned stadium stairs as fast as Toph could manage with her injuries. She had an arm around both Shikamaru’s and Naruto’s shoulders supporting part of her weight, but still their pace was much too slow.

“Just leave me behind! I’ll manage.” Toph insisted. “Get the others to safety first.”

“No.” Sakura said.

Naruto nodded in agreement. “If we’ve learned anything from Kakashi sensei it’s that you never abandon a friend.”

“Really?” Katara asked. That didn’t seem to fit the picture of him that they were piecing together.

Sakura suddenly looked concerned. “Yes,” she said, “that’s why I’m so worried about Sasuke. Orochimaru put a cursed seal on him when we got separated from you. Just now he went chasing after Gaara, but if he uses too much chakra the curse will take over his body.”

The gaang looked at each other guiltily. It seemed team 7 had always been on their side.

“You should go find Sasuke.” Shikamaru said. Naruto and Sakura looked at him in surprise. Shikamaru picked Toph up. “I can take it from here.” He reassured. “Their flat is almost down the block.”

“Since when do you volunteer for anything, shirker?” Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shrugged and hefted Toph higher on his back. “It’s a drag, but somebody’s got to do it. Now go. Sasuke needs you.”

The two nodded and headed off.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru and the gaang reached the inn just as the ground began to shake from the power of the giant snakes’ attempts to break down the village wall. “Ah shit!” Shikamaru swore. “It looks like a full scale invasion.”

They all looked horrified at the monsters before them. “If we don’t do something soon, they’ll get into the village!” Aang yelled over the roar of destruction. “I’ll call Appa!” Taking a huge air bender breath, Aang blew his bison whistle as loud as he could.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shikamaru yelled. “I’m supposed to protect you, not lead you into battle!”

“Well we can’t just stand by and watch!” Katara retorted.

“What about Toph?” Sokka yelled.

“I’ll stay at the Inn!” Toph screamed over the din.

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not any more dangerous than attacking giant snakes atop a bison speeding at high altitudes!” Toph shouted back. “Now go! Save the village, I’ll be fine!”

Shikamaru looked back and forth from the group climbing onto the newly arrived Appa and the little blind girl. 

“Are you coming or what?” Sokka shouted in his direction.

Shikamaru sighed. “What a drag.”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” Shikamaru grouched as he pulled himself onto the furry beast.

“You know mr. smarty pants,” Sokka said with a grin, “At least my plan to wander around the fire nation wouldn’t have landed us in a war Zone.”  
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Toph limped inside, unaware of the scarlet gaze that fixed upon her by the man in the black and red robes.   
Itachi frowned. He was disappointed that he had to miss his brother’s fight in the tournament to stake out the avatar’s quarters. Now not only was the girl he faced not the avatar, but she also seemed to be blind, meaning his genjutsu would be useless against her. He could always knock her out and take her hostage, but he decided against it. Itachi didn’t know if the girl even had any connection to the avatar and even if she did, the Akatsuki wanted Aang to come to them of his own free will. He sighed. This had been such a waste of time. Making a handsign he vanished out of the apartment and reapeard next to Iroh.

“Any luck?” He asked the old man.

Iroh shook his head. “The vessel took to the woods and I lost him. It’s a wonder how fast he was even after his fight with my nephew.”

“Hn. Who won?” Itachi asked.

Iroh furrowed his brow. “The boy did. We may have underestimated the nine tails jinchuriki.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi frowned at the idea of leaving the arena. He and Guy along with a couple anbu members had managed to take out the most of the enemy, but the Hokage was still trapped in the barrier put up by the sound four. Would Hiruzen Sarutobi have the heart to kill his former student to save the village, or would Orochimaru kill him once and for all?

Guy put a hand on his old rival’s shoulder. “Come Kakashi.” He said. “There’s nothing we can do here. We need to stop further invasion at the edges of the village.”  
Kakashi nodded grimly. There were others who needed his help. But if there was one thing Kakashi had learned from Obito, it was to never abandon a comrade. Back then he was a snob who only played by the rules. His father had forsaken a very important mission so as not to leave a friend behind, only to have that friend kill him in return. ‘Rin isn’t Chang Bo!’ Obito had yelled. ‘Those who break the rules are scum, but people who abandon their friends are worse than scum!’And benders who betray their friends are the worst scum of all.

How could Kakashi leave his leader behind after all that Obito had taught him? Kakashi had to have faith in his hokage and the anbu that they would do their part and stay   
alive while he and Guy did their part.   
“Let’s go.” Kakashi said, and with that, the two jonin took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was kinda choppy but I didn't want to make it three short chapters.


	24. Dual Funerals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konoha crush has ended

Konoha stood in black before the open casket of their leader. The sky was grey and it rained, allowing even the coldest shinobi to weep without notice. Their tears were masked by the rain. The gaang however, held no qualms about crying. It all seemed so unfair. How could someone so good be killed by his very own student? 

In Suna, the sun beat down on the closed coffin of the Kazekage. It was closed for good reason. By the time they had found his body, it was near impossible to recognize, and not just because his face had been torn off. He had been left to bake under the desert sun, his body bloated by gasses of decomposition and flies buzzed about his skin.

Temari refused to cry. Crying was weak and weakness was something she had lost the day her mother died. Their father the Kazekage had forbidden her and Kankuro from mourning at her funeral. His face was grave as he told them, “She sacrificed herself for the village. That is something to be proud of, grateful for.” He scowled as if he weren’t convincing himself. “Don’t you dare regret her death! Our village will be safe now. Because of her we have the ultimate weapon.” Well now it was his funeral, and if she cried it would be for the village’s loss of a leader that provided safety for his people at the cost of his family. But Temari wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t cry.


	25. Village in Shambles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things are getting troublesome

The fight was over. The leaf had successfully foiled the sound and Sand’s attempts to destroy the village, but it was far from victory.

Economically, Konoha had taken a huge blow. The various feudal lords and ladies did not take well to being put under a mass genjutsu while full out war raged around them. It had been done by Kabuto to keep them out of the fight, but they didn’t see it that way. To them, Konoha had betrayed their trust because it was too weak to defend itself. The whole ordeal would cost the village lots of money and many of their costumers. 

The village was in tenuous political standings at best. Soon after the invasion the leaf got a disturbing message from the sand. The Kazekage was found dead, his face removed by some forbidden jutsu. This was no doubt the work of Orochimaru. It was clear he had taken on the guise of Kazekage in order to kill the third Hokage, but how much of the invasion was just Orochimaru’s doing? Suna was still wary of the Leaf, believing the fire lord’s warnings of malicious intent, but after such a battle, neither village was strong enough to start a war. Meetings needed to be held post-haste between the two villages to discuss their standing as allies, but that was currently impossible since neither had a leader.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage, the god of shinobi, was dead. Orochimaru’s attack had taken the life of Konoha’s leader as well as many others. The village was left in shambles; the hospital beds were filled with injured shinobi and many buildings had been destroyed.

Aang, Sokka, Toph and Katara didn’t know what to do. They wanted to help but they didn’t know who was in power to let them. Besides the Hokage, the gaang had no idea how the leaf village was lead. Unsure of what else to do, Aang and the others went to speak to Kakashi. 

Said ninja was lost in thought, his mind wandering from the task of rebuilding infront of him. He’d heard from Asuma how the avatar and his friends had helped fight the invasion and Kakashi didn’t know how to feel about that. Why would they put their lives in danger to help the ones meant to protect them? What’s their motive? Kakashi had hoped his team would find that out on their mission to protect the avatar in the forest of death, but then… Then that bastard Orochimaru had separated the teams so he could get his filthy hands on Sasuke. Kakashi grimaced. The avatar didn’t seem at all inclined to help their guards then, so why now? Had they just had a change of heart? Kakashi didn’t know what the Avatar was up to, but speculation would have to wait for later, as he noticed the gaang walking up to him.  
“Why are you four outside by yourselves?” He asked immediately. “Where are your guards?”

They looked at each other. “Uh, we don’t have any.” Katara said. 

Kakashi frowned. The task of assigning guards to the Avatar must have been forgotten or disregarded in the aftermath of the battle.

“But, um, we were wondering if there was any way we could help rebuild the village.” Katara continued. “I’m a healer, and Toph and Aang can use earth bending on the outer wall.”

Sokka noded. “I’ve got some building experience, though it’s mostly been out of snow.”

Kakashi stared down at the smiling kids in front of them. It looked like they had good intentions but… “No.” He said.

“What? Why not?” Aang asked.

Toph crossed her arms. “Rude.” She said. “I bet it’s cause we’re benders.”

“I’m not!” Sokka pointed out.

Kakashi held up a hand for silence. “It wouldn’t be safe for you to be out and about so much. I have my suspicions that there may be a fire bender hiding in the village.”

The gaang looked at each other. “…Is that so…”

“I believe he is currently in the hospital recuperating from his fight with Naruto. We can’t afford him to see you. As Lord Third…” Kakashi paused. He still couldn’t believe he was gone. “As Lord Third told you, the village cannot stand in the way of the fire lord. In order to hide your presence from him, you will stay guarded in your suite until the fire bender leaves. You may not go outside until that happens. Food will be brought to you.”

Aang blinked. “That seems…extreme.”

“Isn’t that a little unnecessary?” Katara added.

Kakashi gave them a look to say that the discussion was over. “I’ll escort you back to your rooms. I’d like to assign someone of higher rank to protect you, but the village is currently short some ninja.” Toph gulped. Had that many people died in the attack? How could he say that so casually? To the guy beside him who seemed to be turning into wood Kakashi said, “Tenzo, would you mind telling Sakura to go to the Avatar’s place immediately?”

He frowned. “I’m a little busy, Kakashi. She’s your student, not mine.”

Kakashi sighed, and made a shadow clone to send after Sakura. Sokka’s eyes widened in amazement. “You can do that too? I thought that was Naruto’s thing!”  
Kakashi ignored him. “Let’s go.” He said. “I have to meet up with someone after this.”

On the way to the flat, they passed by the teashop where Kakashi had planed on meeting Sasuke. Something caught the jonin’s eye; two figures wearing matching black cloaks emblazoned with red clouds and straw hats that obscured their faces. Suspicious. That wasn’t a Learf uniform, so they had to be foreigners. Kakashi would have to check on those two before Sasuke arrived. “Let’s pick up the pace.” He told his charges.


	26. Itachi and Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caught in a tea shop of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off episodes 81 and 82 of Naruto

“Dango please.” Itachi murmured to the waiter.

“You know, sugar isn’t good for the immune system Itachi.” Iroh warned. “You should have some nice hot herbal tea. It might help that insufferable cough of yours.”

Itachi ignored him. “What will you have, Iroh?”

“Hmm.” The older man said thoughtfully. “I think a jasmine tea would be nice.” The waiter nodded politely and left.

“So, Itachi, when do we make our next move?” Iroh asked.

Itachi fixed him with a cool stare. “Here is not the time to speak of such things.”

“Of course.” There was an awkward pause. “Have you consulted a doctor recently? Your condition seems to be worsening.”

“Do not concern yourself with my health. There should be much more productive things occupying your mind.” Itachi replied. 

Iroh began to twiddle his thumbs. “It’s a nice day out.” He commented.

“Hn”

The tea and dango arrived and Iroh brought his cup to his lips. He sighed. The sweet aroma of the delicate flowers hung in the steam the tea emitted and brought subtle sweetness to the bitter taste of the tea. With such a cup of tea, Iroh could finnaly relax. Mmm. Tea… He needn’t make small talk with his uncommunicative partner, no more did Iroh’s brow crease from the stress of protecting Zuko, and the frown lines at Iroh’s eyes that marked his ire at his unconsensual servitude to the Akatsuki melted off his face. It was just tea. All tea. 

Itachi put down his dango. Iroh tensed. It seemed his tea reverie would have to be short lived. A man with white hair leaned casually outside of the teahouse. The famous copy nin pulled out his favorite book but it he made it clear that the Akatsuki’s presence was known. Iroh continued to sip the rest of his tea, and listened to Kakashi’s overly relaxed banter with two other ninja. He recognized Asuma, the son of the third hokage. He had once ben a part of the guardian twelve; the most trusted guards of his late father, fire lord Azulon. The other one seemed to be a woman, and Iroh couldn’t remember having ever met her or heard of her. 

“I’m just waiting on Sasuke.” Kakashi said off handedly. Itachi remained inscrutable as ever, but Iroh noticed that one of his fingers twitched. It was the one wearing the Akatsuki ring. That was enough of a signal. They headed towards the canal and waited for their confronters. It wasn’t long before the two jonin showed up.

“You guys aren’t from around here are you? What are you doing in this village?” Asuma asked.

Itachi ignored his question. “It’s been a long time, Asuma, Kurenai.”

Asuma frowned. “The fact that you know our names means that you must be a shinobi formerly of this village.” Itachi lifted the rim of his hat that obscured his face. The jonin swallowed. Itachi. 

“I’m warning you. You two don’t want to interfere with me. It’s not my desire to kill you.” Itachi said.

“You know that’s pretty hilarious coming from a guy who murdered his own people. Now come on, out with it. I know you didn’t come skulking in here dressed like that for no good reason. What are you after?” Asuma demanded.

Iroh knew of Itachi’s past, but it was still hard to believe a boy so young, just two years older than Zuko, could have done so much evil. It was easy to believe the boy had skill, Iroh knew from training Azula what talent can come to young savants. But Iroh held firm in his assertion of youthful innocence. He could not hate a boy so young. Sure, eighteen was hardly a child, but it had been decades since Iroh himself was that age, and since then he had changed in so many ways. 

Itachi ignored Asuma’s question. “Well I guess we’re not going anywhere without a fight. Take them out Iroh; just try not to overdo it. Your moves tend to stand out.”  
Iroh nodded, relieved. He knew Itachi enough to understood what he was trying to tell him. Don’t kill them. 

Asuma moved his gaze to the other cloaked figure. “So that’s Iroh huh? Azulon’s first son born to a concubine of the land of lightning. Never thought you’d be the type to join the Akatsuki.”

Iroh frowned. He did not like his membership to the organization to become well known. “I’m not. I’m doing this against my will. I still consider you an ally for your survice to my father. I mean you no harm. Please stand down or I will have to paralyze you.”

Asuma snorted. “I work for the village now. I will protect my home. What do you want here?”

“Asuma Sarutobi… I’m sorry for the death of your father, we had nothing to do with-”

“Enough talking Iroh. Take care of them.” Itachi cut in.

Iroh nodded tiredly, then before the jonin could react, ran at them with incredible speed. He could easily have taken them out from afar, but it took precission to paralyze without killing. Asuma blocked his attacks, keeping the old man’s crackling fingers from hitting any of his vital organs. He realized too late however, that that was not where Iroh was aiming. Asuma felt a jab of pain in his shoulder and found that he couldn’t move that arm! Just then, Iroh froze, caught in a genjutsu cast by Kurenai.   
Itachi sighed. It seemed he would have to get involved as well. With a quick look at Iroh, he released the man from the illusion. Then, with a powerful side kick, Itachi launched Kurenai onto the water and leaped after her. Just then he froze as Kakashi appeared behind the two of them.

“Not that I’m unhappy to see ya, but what are you doing here?” Asuma asked.

“Well you know, I told you to take care of those two earlier, but I guess I got a little worried.” Kakashi admitted. Then to the Akatsuki members he said, “Okay, talk. What’s a rogue ninja like you doing in this village?”

“Kakashi Hatake.” Itachi said in greeting.

“You can imagine my surprise.” Kakashi continued. “I go to check out a couple of low life vagabonds in a teahouse and I find none other than Itachi Uchiha, and Iroh, thunder dragon of the west. What is your goal exactly?”

“We’re looking for something and we know it’s here.”

“And what would that be?” Kakashi probed. “This thing you’ve come for, is it Sasuke?”

“No. Come Iroh,” Itachi said. “We’re pulling out. There’s no need to fight a full-scale battle.”


	27. Iroh and Zuko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko thinks on Naruto's words and Iroh drops the bomb

Zuko lay on a hospital bed, nursing some broken ribs from being body slamed by a heap of shadow clones, and thought about what Naruto said.

*********************************It’s those of us who have to struggle to get recognition that becomes strong. **********************************

Could it be true? How else could Zuko have lost to that orphan, that nobody? “Am I not struggling for the recognition of my father though? Why am I not strong?”

*******************All you do is hide in your father’s shadow. Is that really what you want? To gain respect from a father who*******************  
*************************************burns and banishes his own son? Just to follow in his footsteps? ******************************************

“Is that what I want? That’s what you asked me Naruto. Why is it so damn hard to answer?” Zuko was jarred from his thoughts by a knock at the door. “Come in.” He wheezed. The door opened and it wasn’t a surprise to see Uncle’s kind face approach. But he looked worried, and his clothing was different than usual. “Why are you wearing that?” Zuko asked.

Iroh looked down at the black and red cloak he was wearing and sighed. Walking over to his nephew, Iroh sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. “What I’m about to tell you may be hard to hear, Zuko. I cannot blame you for being angry or even hating me. But please know that I love you.”

Zuko frowned at the serious tone his uncle had donned. “What are yo-”

Iroh held up a hand for silence. “Soon after the death of my son, I was forced to join a criminal organization called the Akatsuki.” Iroh let that information sink in.

“Why would I be mad about that?” Zuko asked, confused.

“Because,” Iroh said, “The mission they gave me, that I have been enacting for the past three years was to prevent you from capturing the Avatar.”

Zuko’s eyes widened in shock. All this time? “You lied to me?” He asked, mouth dry. Iroh nodded. “You Traitor!” Zuko yelled, and bolted upright, before clutching his sides wincing.

“Easy there,” Iroh said with concern and helped his nephew gently lay back down.

“Why…are you telling me this now?” Zuko asked, panting.

Iroh looked off in the distance. “Because I’ve lied to you for much too long. The Akatsuki has given me a new mission. I need to kidnap Naruto Uzumaki.”

“What will they do with him?” Zuko probed causiously.

Iroh shook his head. “I’m not at liberty to say, though I do know that it will result in the boy’s death.”

“What?” Zuko yelled, once again struggling to sit upright. “And you’re just going to go along with it?”

“Of course I am, I have to!” Zuko heard his uncle shout for the first time. “I have to follow every order the Akatsuki gives me or else…”

“Or else what!?” Zuko demanded. “You’re the thunder dragon damnit! What could they possibly do to you?”

Iroh held his face in his hands. “It’s not me they’d harm. It’s you.” Iroh straightened and looked his nephew in the eye. “If I refuse this mission, the Akatsuki will hunt you down and kill you. I’m doing this for your safety Zuko. Don’t get in the way.” And with that, he departed, leaving a stunned Zuko behind.


	38. Paths Converge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang meets the Uchihas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, this chapter is not written quite up to my standards. I have had to lower my expectation if I ever hope to get this done and now be one of those authors. I don't want to leave you guys hanging and don't intend to. Writing this is a lot of work though and I'd really appreciate any feedback or encouragement you have to offer.

Sasuke scowled at the ground. It figures that the one time Kakashi showed up on time, it was to tell him that they'd have to skip training. He had said he had other business to attend to and gave his signature closed eye smile before heading towards the canal. Typical. How the hell was he supposed to get stronger with a teacher who always dropped out on him? How did Naruto do it? Sasuke thought back to the battle against Gaara in the forest. Not only had Naruto used a ridiculous amount of shadow clones, but after all that managed to summon a toad comparable in size to Shukaku. Sasuke grit his teeth, remembering how he'd been helpless while Naruto had taken Gaara down single-handedly. Since when had he gotten so good? Maybe Sakura would know. Kakashi had said something about her guarding the Avatar so she was probably outside his apartment. Sasuke turned and headed back to town.

Sakura stood outside the door to the Avatar's suite. She tensed, pulling out a kunai as a dark figure approached. "Who goes there?"

"Stand down," an impatient voice quipped, "I'm here to speak with the Avatar."

Sakura frowned. "For what purpose and under whose authorization?"

"My own." The figure said, answering both questions.

Sakura squinted at the guy. Shadows were obscuring his face and she didn't recognize him. "And you would be? State your name, rank, and affiliation."

There was a pause. "No."

"Excuse me?" Sakura exclaimed, irritated at being completely disregarded. Finally the figure stepped out of the darkness and Sakura sucked in her breath when she finally got a good look at him. "Itachi Uchiha, S rank criminal, missing nin."

"You're trying to give yourself courage by acting smart and listing everything you know about me." Itachi observed. "Pathetic."

Before Itachi could activate his sharingan, Sakura slammed her eyes shut and growled, "What are you doing here Itachi Uchiha?"

"That, foolish little girl, is none of your business." Itachi stated. He leaned over and put a hand on her cheek. She flinched but refused to open her eyes. Itachi tried to pull one of her lids up only to jump back as Sakura shrieked and swiped her kunai at him. He sighed. "You can't honestly think you can defeat me little girl."

Sakura's knees were trembling as she spoke; "Of c-course not! I know I'm going to die now, but that's not going to stop me from protecting my village!"

Itachi smirked. "I have no intention of killing you. You're too weak to be worthy of an honorable death."

That did it. That was the last straw. How dare he call her weak? How dare he laugh at her loyalty? Sakura's eyes flashed with anger and she glared at the man before her. He smiled. "Got you."

Sakura slumped to the ground, caught in a genjutsu. Just before she lost consciousness she managed to snarl, "You asss…"

"Actually, I'm a weasel."

Back In the flat, Aang and the others were arguing about what to do next.  
Aang, Toph, Sokka and Katara sat glumly in what had been essentially their home for the last two months. Each of them had gloom on their mind.

"So what now?" Sokka asked, finally voicing everyone's thoughts. "We're not safe here."

"When were we ever safe?" Toph snorted.

Sokka relented, "Touche. But the point is, the village was just attacked, they're too weak right now to give us adequate guards, and they may be on the brink of war."

"We need to leave." Aang summed up.

Katara looked up in surprise. "What? We can't leave now! They need us! The Leaf is in trouble and we should help."

"Katara, this is not the war we set out to fight." Aang pointed out.

"What difference does it make? Why should one war take precedence over another?" She snapped back.

"Because this isn't our responsibility!" Aang argued. "I'm the only person who can stop the Fire Nation. The ninjas will have to deal on their own. Besides, we're only a burden to them now. They're still trying to protect us even though they're too weak to do so. Not only that, but they are no longer obliged to since Zuko has found out where we are. Leaving is the only way we can help them. Right now I need to be there for the benders."

"Aang's right." Toph said. "And staying here hasn't gotten us any closer to our goal either. Aang still has two elements to learn."

"Well it's not exactly like we've been trying! Katara yelled. "You were all too busy taking the chunin exams! And now, right when Konoha is in trouble we can't just say 'see ya later' and leave!"

"Sure we can." Sokka shrugged. "It's not like they'd even notice."

Katara opened her mouth to protest, but just then they heard a firm knock at the door.

"Now who could that be?" Aang mumbled as he stood to get the door. Cautiously, he pulled it open and saw a boy in a black cloak with red clouds. "Um, Hello?" Aang said tentatively. He noticed the headband with the leaf emblem on it, so the guy must be an ally. He must have gotten in a really bad fight though for there was a deep gash across the thing. Aang shuddered to think what could have gouged the metal so smoothly.

"I came to speak to you and found your guard unconscious." Itachi explained. Aang opened the door fully to see that Sakura lay in his arms. "She needs rest. Would it be too much trouble to set her down in one of your beds?"

"Of course!" Aang exclaimed, worry written all over his face. "Follow me!"

Itachi obliged, following a few steps behind Aang and politely looking around as if he handn't already scoped out the place when he had waited for the gaang during the invasion. They gathered in the living room and Itachi gently placed Sakura down. "This is Katara, Sokka and Toph." Aang introduced.

Itachi nodded politely. "Itachi."

"Nice to meet you, Itachi." Katara said. "Thank you for bringing Sakura to us." She pulled her flask of water and began hovering orbs over the kunoichi. Katara frowned looking down at the girl lying before her. "I can't figure out what's wrong with her."

"It's chakra exhaustion." Itachi easily supplied. "I've seen it before, but that brings me to my point. You're not safe here anymore. The village is weak. A genin who shouldn't be anywehere but in the hospital is not a suitable means of security for the world's only hope for peace. My organization, The Akatsuki would like to supply you with our protection." Itachi raised an eyebrow at the looks the kids were sending each other. "Are you opposed to our offer?"

"No, not at all." Sokka cut in. "We were actually just talking about that."

"Good." Itachi said. "Pack up your things. The sooner we leave here the better."

"I don't want to be a burden anymore!" Aang protested. "We've gotten along by ourselves so far!"

Itachi nodded and put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "Then don't think of it as us protecting you like a child, Avatar. No one doubts your capabilities. We, The Akatsuki, wish to help you because we have a common goal to achieve: peace. A lightning bender and a fire bender are among our ranks and are willing to teach you."

Another knock sounded at the door and Toph lazily stood to get it. "It's like earth kingdom rush hour in here." She muttered.

Itachi stood. "I have to go now. Come with me somewhere we can finish this discussion in private."

Aang hesitated.

Toph opened the door.

"Where's Sakura? I was told she was guarding you four." Sasuke demanded.

Toph raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Whatcha need her for?" She asked. "Is Mr. Moody in looooove?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes angrily. "Where is she? I need to talk to her."

"Now Aang" Itachi urged. But Aang was distracted by Toph arguing with Sasuke in the other room.

"All right, all right! Hold your horses, cranky pants." Toph whined. "Pinkie fainted from catra tiredness and a nice man brought her to us"

"Chakra exhaustion?" Itachi heard Sasuke's voice sound around the corner.

It was too late.

"Sakura has perfect chakra control. No way she got…" Sasuke rounded the corner and froze. His eyes locked on Itachi and everything else disappeared.


End file.
